More than Human
by THE-DUDE remixed
Summary: In an attempt to be better prepared after the attack by Cadmus and the Brainiac empowered Lex Luthor, the league looks beyond their own world. But when they get involved in the hunt for a biological terrorist, will they only unleash a greater evil. Takes place after the JLU episode 'Divided we Fall' and right after the events of 'Prototype'
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League Unlimited, Prototype, or any of their affilliates. Though I do hear them In my head sometimes.

'Thinking'

"Speaking"

 _Telepathy_

Radio/Communications

He never thought his life would come to this. A few weeks ago he was Alex Mercer, one of the most brilliant scientists in Gentek, the company that was at the forefront of genetics. Now he was piloting a helicopter carrying a nuclear device in order to save a city from a virus he had both created and unleashed.

"Come on", he hissed between clenched teeth. He wanted to make sure New York was out of the blast zone before he dropped the bomb. He also wanted to have enough time to get away, but he didn't have much faith he would. 'Just as well' he thought, 'everybody would be better off without me'. He was disgusted with what his former self had done, by releasing the virus out of spite. But even worse was what he had done. In his search for answers he had unknowingly unleashed an even greater evil, one which threatened the entire world. He could barely stand himself and if he had to die to atone for his sins he was fully prepared to.

He looked around and estimated that New York was now out of the range of the blast and the resulting nuclear fallout. He released the cables and took off as fast as the chopper would go. Suddenly he heard a deafening explosion. He didn't look back but he could see the light coming from behind. It looked like the rising sun. The helicopter started to shake violently as the blast wave came closer and the cockpit grew hotter by the second.

When the the light grew so bright his eyes started to burn, and the chopper felt like it was about to be ripped apart, time seemed to slow down and he looked back on the memories of his original life. He was in a lab with his lover, Karen Parker, sharing a quick kiss in between experiments. Karen, who had betrayed him, and who he in turn had killed.

He was on a stage giving a speech at his graduation and as he finished, and everybody started celebrating, he saw his sister in the front row quietly clapping and looking at him with pride in her eyes. Dana, who had come to his aid when he needed it, despite their distance, and who was now in a coma with no guarantee of waking up.

He was demonstrating to the higher ups, including his boss Raymond McMullen, the effectiveness of the blacklight virus. McMullen, who even at the end had managed to spite Alex by killing himself and denying his secrets from being known.

All these memories and more flew through his head until, for one moment, everything froze. He became acutely aware of everything, from the heat on his face, to the feel of the seat, to the coiled muscles of his body. And in the next moment all he saw was white fire.

* * *

Bruce Wayne also known by his alias Batman was currently facing a major dilemma, one he couldn't figure out. He had been standing there, looking in the same direction for an hour.

"I was wondering where you were."

He didn't turn his head but he recognized the voice of fellow Justice League founder Clark Kent aka Superman.

"What are you doing here Clark?"

"Looking for you. Everybody's worried. Especially Diana."

He gave Bruce a sly smile but stopped when he didn't react. Bruce kept staring in the same direction.

Though he tried to hide it, Clark was worried about Bruce. Ever since their fight with the Brainiac/Lex Luthor hybrid he had been down where the league kept the various technology and artifacts they had come across in it's short history.

"Seriously Bruce, you've been acting weird. What have you been doing? "

"...thinking."

Clark rolled his eyes at his friend's typical short answer. 'Would it kill him to at least give a full sentence', he thought. Out loud he said, "OK. About what? ". He wasn't expecting the answer he received.

"The Justice Lords."

"What?", he said. 'What brought this on?' It was then that he noticed what Bruce was staring at.

"Isn't that..."

"Yeah, the device used by the Justice Lords to view and enter other universes."

"What's all this about?", Clark said slightly unnerved by the machine. It held bad memories, especially considering he had almost become like his doppelganger.

"When the Justice Lords were beaten I realized that we had the potential for great evil."

"I know", Clark said with a heavy sigh.

"But there's a difference between knowing something and seeing it with your own eyes."

"Yeah. When I think about how mad I was when I thought Wally died I..."

"I wasn't talking about you."

'Wait then who...', he thought.

Seeing his friends dumbfounded look he quickly elaborated. "Clark I know what kind of man you are. I may criticize you sometimes but I know you would never cross the line.", he finished with a small smile. "Actually I was talking about Cadmus."

"Listen Bruce, I know they're not exactly Innocent..."

"The Justice Lords suffered a major loss, and in trying to correct it made a terrible world ", Bruce said seriously. "Cadmus saw a major threat and made a similar mistake."

"How do you figure that? ", Clark asked incredulously.

"They created a number of situations to antagonize us and get a hostile reaction. They basically wanted to MAKE us an enemy simply to say I told you so.", Bruce said with some heat. "And for all their talk of defending themselves from us, they created a lot of weapons and plans to be used in an invasion. In my experience preemptive strikes never prevent anything except the potential for negotiation. Instead of preventing the Justice Lords, Cadmus nearly created them."

Clark was surprised by how much thought was put into this. Still it left one question unanawered. "If that's the case then what do you hope to find down here?". Clark was starting to feel uneasy.

"We spent so much time scrutinizing ourselves instead of our enemies that we let our guard down and stood aside as Cadmus' actions nearly destroyed the universe. Hell Luthor hacked In and used our weapons against us!", he shouted. Bruce had gone from a little angry to downright pissed. "I want to make sure it never happens again."

Now Clark was alarmed. "Hold on Bruce, you can't..."

"Don't worry. I don't intend to impose martial law. I just...wanna get some insight.", Bruce said trying to explain what he wanted to do.

"What do you hope to find?"

"Don't know. I might figure out everything, I might figure out nothing.", Bruce said. "But I always believe in getting as much information as I can before making important decisions. And as potentially dangerous as this Is, I need to know If there are ways to prevent things like this without a world ending crisis hanging over our heads."

Superman could tell that there was no changing Batman's mind. "Well if you're gonna do this, know that you have my support. And I'm sure the others do too."

Bruce gave him a fond smile. "Thanks."

"Anytime. So where are you going to start?"

"Not sure.", Bruce said examining the machine. "There's no real way to know what universe you might see. It's like tuning a radio without any indication of what frequency you're on."

"So you're just gonna punch in some information and hope for the best?"

"That's the idea."

"It's not like you to be so reckless."

"Sometimes you have to take a leap."

As he started to adjust the machine, Batman knew that whatever happened he and his friends would be prepared. And he truly believed that at the time. But nothing would prepare him for the horrors he would witness.

Author's Note

Well my first story seems to be off to a good start. I've gotten one review which is one more than I thought I'd get, so my thanks to Mr. dekonfrost, you sir are a saint.

Now you may have noticed that there wasn't much of Mercer in this chapter. Well that's gonna be the case for the first few chapters so don't worry about Zeus, he'll have his chance to shine.

So if you read this story and liked it then come on back now you hear. I've more in store dudes.

-updated 10/7/2015-


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League Unlimited, Prototype, or any of their affilliates. But I do own two dogs, so that's something.

"Speaking"

'Thinking'

 _telepathy_

Radio/Communications

! WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

On a riverbank outside of Manhattan a crow landed near a strange black ooze. As it pecked at it, curious of what it was, the ooze suddenly latched onto it and started to consume it. Once the crow was consumed the ooze started to rise and form itself into the shape of a man. First, a skeleton seemed to rise out of it, then once it was done it started to be covered with muscle-like tissue, and finally it began to be covered with skin and other things until there stood a man in a black jacket with a grey hood.

Alex looked back at the city and began to think about what would happen next. 'I need to get Dana out of the city. Ragland too, since he helped me.' That seemed like a good start, but he knew that he needed to talk with them (hopefully Dana would wake up) in order to make a plan.

'Well I have no time to waste' he thought and took off back to the wasteland.

* * *

"Are you insane?!"

Bruce gave an exasperated sigh at the reaction of Diana of Themyscira aka Wonder Woman. It didn't help that his so-called friend Clark was silently laughing at his predicament. 'With that oh so innocent look on his face. Evil bastard', he irritably thought.

They were in the Watchtower's meeting room with the rest of the Justice League's founders. Bruce took a moment to observe each of them. There was Wally West, also known as the Flash, nervously trying to look neutral. John Stewart aka the Green Lantern was looking pretty pissed, and was being held back by Shayera Hol, formerly known as Hawkgirl. Finally J'onn J'onzz known by many, to his annoyance, as the Martian Manhunter who was sitting with a contemplative look on his face.

He was brought out of his observations by Diana, who looked even madder that he had drifted off. He had explained his reasoning but, despite Clark's assurances, convincing them had not been as easy as he thought. "You saw what the Justice Lords did with this machine, what they tried to accomplish. You know how dangerous It Is!", Diana said hotly.

"Yes and that's why I decided to Inform all of you about what I Intended.", Bruce said.

"Oh so you decided we were worthy enough to learn your plan."

"That's not what I meant."

"Well what did you mean?", John asked. "Because it sounds like despite everything that's happened, you want to dabble in something you don't understand. I thought you would've realized how dangerous that is."

Bruce knew he was thinking about Chronos. "That was different.", he said.

Shayera was looking between the two. "What are you talking about?", she asked puzzled.

"Nobody!", they both said.

"Hey maybe we should get everybody's opinion before arguing.", said Wally. "What do you think Clark?"

All eyes turned to said superhero who was caught slightly off guard. "Well, while I had my doubts, I trust in Bruce's judgment."

When Diana opened her mouth to speak Bruce cut her off saying, "We've been caught unawares too many times and we've gotten lucky and managed to come out on top each time. But eventually our luck will run out and I want to be able to protect you all when it does." He was looking right at Diana when he said it, who softened and gave him a small smile.

"Fine", she said, "I'll keep an open mind about this." Then her smile turned teasing. "I didn't know you cared so much."

She giggled when he gave an awkward cough, a little embarrassed at how much he revealed. 'Still it looks like she is on board.', he thought pleased. 'But John is still against it, it looks like Shayera and Wally are on the fence, and J'onn hasn't even said anything'

"Well that's all well and good but...", John began

"I think we should."

Everyone was stunned by the sudden outburst and looked around before they realized J'onn had spoken.

"What are you saying, do you know how dangerous this is?", asked John.

J'onn was completely calm when he answered. "Yes it is extremely dangerous, but so is everything else. Anything can be used as a weapon, it is a person's intent that determines whether or not it becomes one. Just because the Justice Lords abused it doesn't mean we are destined to, or that anyone we meet will be like them either. Besides I think Bruce had another reason for bringing this up."

"You're right", Bruce said. "I tested the machine 24 hours ago [1] and..."

"WHAT?!"

Bruce groaned at his own idiocy. 'Right when Diana finally calmed down I have to put my foot in my mouth'

"You tested a machine that you didn't completely understand, which for all we know could've disassembled you if not operated correctly, and which could've sent you to someplace hostile with no way to return...WITHOUT TELLING US?!"

All of Bruce's arguments of him wanting to make sure if it's safe, and not putting them In danger (especially Diana), and It being something he had to do sounded very weak and all he could think to say was,"I told Clark."

Said man shot him a deadly glare before paling at the look the amazonian was giving him.

Luckily J'onn stepped in before Diana attacked Clark. "Listen it already happened, you can't change that, and Bruce is fine so just let it go."

Diana took a deep breath, nodded, and sat down but not before shooting one last glare at the man of steel.

Bruce gave her a teasing smile. "I didn't know you cared so much." He chuckled when Diana blushed.

"As I was saying, I tested the machine yesterday and came across a universe that...well see for yourselves."

He pressed a button and a screen came out of the ceiling and when it turned on they were greeted by a terrible sight. It was New York but it looked like a warzone. There were bodies everywhere and crows were flocking by the hundreds. But the worst part was what was still living. Marines were on the streets with assualt rifles, machine guns, and grenade launchers firing at hordes of...things. Nobody could think of any other way to describe them since they were beyond anything they had seen before.

They were vaguely humanoid but with horribly deformed bodies. Some had large arms with sharp claws at the end. Some had heavily bloated bodies. Some had twisted faces, mouths open in a silent scream of agony.

However, Shayera noticed by the decomposition of the bodies and the way the soldiers were pushing the creatures back that this was the wind down of an extremely deadly battle.

"As you probably noticed this is New York, albeit a different one than we know. From what I've been able to gather it was ravaged by a virus.", Bruce grimly stated. "In less than a month it infected roughly three-quarters of the population." There were many shocked gasps when they heard that. "Many of those infected died; those that didn't became those creatures."

"Wait, are you saying those things...are people? ", Wally asked horrified.

"Yes. Or at least they used to be. I'm not sure that classification still fits.", Bruce said.

"Are you suggesting we interfere?", John asked. "That's exactly what the Justice Lords did."

"How is this any different than what we normally do? Bad things happen and we go help.", Wally said.

"The Justice Lords tried to fix what wasn't broken. However if we simply stand by, we will be going to the other extreme; refusing help when it is actually needed.", J'onn stated.

"Not that I don't want to help but by the looks of It the Infection Is under control. There's no point helping if we're no longer needed.", Shayera said.

"She's got a point. It's terrible what happened to these people but we won't make any noticeable difference by going", John said grimly.

"Yes, but I haven't told you everything yet.", Bruce said.

He had their attention now. "Wait there's more?", Diana said in disbelief.

"First thing you should know is that this wasn't a natural outbreak. It was an act of bioterrorism.", Bruce stated.

"Who the hell would make something like this?", Wally said appalled.

"Secondly, this bioterrorist hasn't been caught."

"What? He's still at large?", Shayera gasped. 'If he's out there he can and probably will do it again. '

"Third, though the marines managed to contain the infection it was just barely. And in the time it took them to do it millions of people died, including tens of thousands of marines. Good men who died horribly."

This fact really affected John. He had served in the Corps for years. He knew the bravery and dedication of it's members. It's where he learned about duty, about fighting against injustice. He even kept in contact with his fellow marines, even the ones still serving. The fact that so many had given up there lives, many who were probably too young to have really lived life, brought him great pain.

"Finally, as you may have noticed, unlike our world or even the Justice Lords world there are no meta-humans. These are just regular people who are in over their heads. Considering that if an outbreak were to occur again, which is very likely, these people will be in big trouble. This problem is too big for them to handle, but we can and it's early enough so we can stop it before it becomes a worldwide problem.", Bruce said with finality.

"Alright Bruce, you've convinced me", John said as he stood.

"I cannot stand idly by while this injustice continues.", declared Diana with fire in her eyes.

"If I can help stop a major catastrophe from occurring then I will definitely help.", stated Shayera.

"And you can definitely count on me.", Wally said, serious for once.

"Thank you", Bruce said. "But we should call the rest of the league together to see if they want to help at all."

"Oh don't worry", said Clark, "I think you'll be surprised how many volunteers you will get."

* * *

He had made it back into the city. It seemed that with their top two commanders, as well as their top specialist, dead Blackwatch had pulled out. It was much easier to get around without their viral detectors, bloodtox, and super soldiers. Still he was playing it safe and was just walking down the street in disguise.

He stopped in front of a tenement building that was where Ragland and Dana were holed up. He walked up the stairs to the correct floor and immediately located the room. He knocked and heard some footsteps until Ragland's voice called through the door, "Who is it?" He chuckled when he remembered the pass phrase, "The God of thunder."

He heard Ragland sigh in relief. "Thank god Alex. I wasn't sure I'd see you again."

"Neither did I. How's Dana?"

"She's stable. Her vitals are good so she should wake up. I just don't know when."

"Thanks doc, for everything."

"I'm happy to help.", Ragland said smiling. "Now would you care to tell me what happened?"

Alex explained to him everything that occured on the _USS Reagan,_ as well as everything he learned.

When he was done Ragland was speechless. "Jesus, I knew they did some horrible stuff but I never thought...". He sagged for a bit, but then he sat up and said, "At least it's over."

"It's not."

"What do you mean? Randall and Greene are dead."

"Yes but do you think this will stop Blackwatch from working on the viruses? They'll simply use this as justification for more experiments. They'll say it's to better protect ourselves from more viral outbreaks."

Alex gazed out of the window. "They're putting all the blame on me, and while I'll be the first one to say that I'm a monster, it's not right that Blackwatch gets off scot-free when they are the ones who created this virus. I want to atone for what I've done and the first step is to stop Blackwatch and expose their crimes."

There was silence for a few minutes. "You're going to need help."

Alex turned to Ragland with a curious expression.

"I happen to have some contacts who will be happy to help bring them down. They hate what Blackwatch has done but never had the muscle to do anything.", Ragland said, standing next to Alex.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"Alex?"

Both turned at the new voice. Dana was standing there with a hand on her eyes and leaning against the wall. "What happened? Is everything okay?"

Alex walked over and pulled his sister into a hug with a smile.

"Yes, everything's going to be fine."

Author's Note.

[1] Since in space there is no definite time zone (or night and day for that matter) It's more practical to count the hours instead of saying things like "in the afternoon"

Well this chapter was very dialogue-heavy but it's necessary in order to get to the good stuff. I forgot to mention this in the last chapter but for those who are curious (probably none but whatevs) yes Galatea will be showing up soon. I always liked her character but the show was pretty vague as to whether she was alive or not. Also to Sir Mr beaver buttington first off I thought that since he probably always hears the voices and memories that at the moment of his (apparent) death he would block them out and focus on the ones that mean the most. Second of all, I just didn't want to (I had enough trouble just figuring out the memories that I wrote so cut me some slack).And to Sir Brown Phantom I say to you, whoops. In my defense you probably should've thought of that ahead of time huh bub. Nah I'm just messing with you but still there Is plenty of stuff In the game for you to find out. So leave a review or PM me if you have any questions or suggestions dudes (or dudettes). And don't forget to keep on keeping on. Lebowski out (if you don't know who that is then shame on you.)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League Unlimited, Prototype, or any of their affiliates. The voices in my head told me so.

"Speaking"

'Thinking'

 _telepathy._

Radio/Communications. 

He was slightly nervous. It was actually pretty amusing when he thought about it. He had crushed tanks like they were tin cans, and had been in some as they exploded. He had flown attack helicopters on suicide runs, and had abandoned them at 5,000 feet; he hit the ground running each time. He had used his biomass like a shield and mowed through cars like they were made of paper while going 80 mph, and had broken through steel enforced concrete barricades like a battering ram. And yet here he was in disguise driving a stolen supply truck to a marine checkpoint and, if he still had sweat glands, he'd be drenched.

'Of course, all those times it was just me', Alex thought nervously. In the passenger seat was Dr. Bradley Ragland dressed as a marine officer. In the back was his sister Dana wearing a red cross uniform. Since Ragland had served in the military and was good under pressure they had decided to put him up front as Alex's boss. Dana had some rudimentary medical skills so they "acquired" some uniforms from the red cross. However, despite their many useful skills neither one was indestructible.

Dr. Bradley Ragland was an extremely gifted virologist, but he was what some people call "experienced in life" (a polite way of saying he was old). Dana was extremely smart and resourceful, however she was a systems analyst for some energy company. She had never really gotten into a fight let alone fired a gun. And now they were driving into the belly of the beast. So yes, he was more than a little nervous.

"Don't worry Alex", Ragland said. He seemed to sense how he was feeling. "They are in desperate need of supplies for the city, so they are passing as many trucks in and out as they can. This means they aren't looking that hard at people's credentials.", he said reassuringly. "We should put more focus on what we do after we get out of the city."

Despite his nervousness Alex couldn't help rolling his eyes. "We've already gone over the plan a hundred times. I could do it in my sleep. Literally, I've been having dreams of it."

"Well it won't hurt to go through it again. It'll also take your mind off what we're doing so you won't be as nervous."

Alex thought he had a point so decided to run through it again. "Okay after we make it past the checkpoint we ditch the truck roughly seven miles out. Far enough away from the city to avoid being discovered for a few days, but just outside the patrols of the perimeter forces 15 miles outside the city."

"Yes, we want to have a head start before they realize that some unauthorized people left the city.", Ragland said, nodding his head. "Then we head to a train station commandeered by the marines and pose as UN inspectors to get on board."

"Then we ride it as far as it goes, which is Boston, and start heading west.", Dana said from the back where she had been listening.

"Yeah, we need to get as far from the east coast as possible.", Alex said seriously.

"Yes yes, then we make our way down to Texas and head to Houston, where we will hide out until my friend contacts us.", Ragland finished.

"Hey Brad you sure we can trust this guy?", Dana asked.

"Yes I've known him for years. We went to school together. He's just as reliable as the one who got us clearance papers.", Ragland stated.

"Well we're about to see how reliable that is cause the checkpoint's coming up.", Alex warned.

They rolled up to a concrete barricade in front of a barbed wire fence that was open with two marines guarding it; one holding an M-16, the other a grenade launcher. They stopped and the one with the assault rifle walked up to Alex's side of the truck. "Okay guys, just be cool.", Alex whispered.

"Papers please.", Alex handed them over without a word. "So you guys are from Fort Benning huh? How's the weather down in Florida?"

"Fort Benning's in Georgia, but the weather is good there.", Ragland said.

The soldier with the grenade launcher scoffed, annoyed. "Nielsen you dumbass, you're making the rest of us look like stupid jarheads."

"Shut up it was a simple mistake.", Nielsen said.

The other soldier laughed. "Yeah, it's real easy to mix up Georgia and Florida. Like driving to California and ending up in Alaska."

"Well you..."

"Can we move this along please?", Alex asked impatiently.

"Right, sorry sir." "Won't happen again.", they both said embarrassed.

The first soldier examined their papers and said, in a more business-like tone, "Alright, Ms. Diana Miller correct? Relief worker for the Red Cross?"

"Yes, uh sir", Dana said from the back.

"No need for that miss. Now, Lt. Colonel Brian Roland? What business do you need to perform outside the red zone sir?", the soldier asked Ragland. "Sorry to inconvenience you sir, they make us ask everybody that.", he added in a low tone.

"It's alright son", Ragland said with a nod of his head. "I need to debrief the higher ups on the situation In the RZ as well as get an estimate of when reconstruction will begin."

"Okay, and Captain Alex Mason [1]? They got you driving trucks sir?"

"Well I couldn't let the lieutenant go without someone watching his back", Alex said.

"Yes he's saved my ass more times than I can count.", Ragland said.

"Alright everything checks out. Just one thing, how come you don't have more men with you? Procedure states that a convoy must have 4 marines per truck."

"Son, you just got transferred here didn't you?", Ragland asked.

"Yes sir, we both came here with our company about two days ago."

"Well then if you had been here when the shit was hitting the fan you would know that we are stretched very thin right now.", Ragland said seriously. "Navy relief Is trickling In and the Army Is sitting on their asses trying to get their shit together so for now we are on our own and we have to make do with what we got."

Both soldiers unconsciously straightened at his words. "Yes sir, sorry for questioning you. You are free to pass sir." They both stood aside so the truck could pass.

The three of them drove for 5 minutes and once the checkpoint was out of sight Alex, Ragland, and Dana started laughing. "Holy crap I thought we were screwed right there.", Dana said. "Brad, where did all that come from?"

"You don't work around a bunch of goose-steppers like Blackwatch without picking up some things.", Ragland said.

As they drove away laughing Alex looked at his two companions with a fond eye. 'They may not be indestructible, but they have some damn good skills.'

* * *

The Watchtower was abuzz with activity, various heroes and other personnel running to and fro. Many were going about their usual crime fighting business, however quite a few were preparing to make contact with the other universe. Unlike the JLU founders there was very little objection to the idea of helping the other world, since that was the reason many joined in first place; helping people wherever and whenever. There were many volunteers but not all of them could go since they also needed to keep up their efforts on Earth.

They didn't want to overwhelm the other world's inhabitants so they decided to send a small diplomatic team in first. Wally and J'onn would be part of the team since they were founders and, if things went wrong, they could escape with the least collateral damage (due to Wally's speed and J'onn's intangibility). Since they were going to be working heavily with the other world's military they chose Nathaniel Adams, also known as Captain Atom, for his military expertise. They also didn't want too many super-powered heroes since it might be too much of a shock. So they chose John Henry Irons, who called himself Steel, who would also prove invaluable due to his extensive mechanical and weapons engineering.

Currently the heroes who were planning to go were gathered in front of Clark Kent for instructions. "Alright just so we're clear, most of you will be on stand by while the diplomatic team makes contact. If they take our offer for help then the rest of you will be mobilized", he said.

"Who will be in charge when we get there?", asked Vigilante.

"That will be decided once we have a better idea of the situation", Clark answered. "Are there any more questions?" When no one spoke up he said,"Good. Now do what you have to do to prepare, and thank you all for doing this." At that everyone started to disperse, and as Clark was walking away John Stewart walked up and fell in step with him.

"Looks like everything's shaping up nicely", John said. "But you know, Atom was Air Force. I'm a marine. And I don't care what universe it is, a marine is a marine. It would make sense considering the main forces dealing with this crisis is the Marine Corps."

"I figured the guardians wouldn't allow you to enter another universe."

"Oh they won't. Honestly I don't even want to go.", John said

"But then why..."

"It's the principle of the thing Clark.", John said amused. Both were sharing a quick laugh until one of the med-workers came running up to them.

"Sir, the prisoner is waking up", he said.

Clark became serious and started walking towards the medical ward. He called over his shoulder, "Get Dr. Hamilton here now." He didn't notice a young woman In a white shirt with a S on It, red skirt, and cape start following him when she heard him.

* * *

As she was waking up one thought went through her head: 'I feel like shit.' She rubbed her head, trying to ease the pounding headache, when another more pressing thought came to her, 'Where the hell am I?' The last thing she remembered was fighting some guy In some heavy duty armor, as well as the one she was cloned from and she was about to take out their watchtower when she experienced excruciating pain. Then everything went black.

She kept her eyes closed and used her other senses to try to figure out where she was. She was lying on a soft, clean bed; a really clean bed. In fact the whole room had a sterile smell. The door seemed open, and she could hear people's voices talking indistinctly. She could also hear some beeping and other noises from various equipment. She was about to get up when she noticed that her hands were shackled. She didn't know what they were made of but they were insanely strong since they held when she pulled on them. It all led her to one conclusion, 'Damn it I must be in the medical wing of that freaking watchtower. Gotta get out of here.'

She started to pull with all her might to break her restraints. She was so focused on her task that she didn't hear two sets of footsteps approaching her room until she heard someone say, "Galatea". She turned and saw two people in the door way. The first was the man of steel himself looking at her with a serious expression. Next to him was Dr. Emil Hamilton, though as she knew him, "Daddy". Hamilton looked at her with a fatherly expression as he and Superman entered the room.

Dr. Hamilton opened his mouth to speak, but before any words could be said a pair of running footsteps was heard. The three of them looked to the doorway as Kara Kent aka Supergirl came into view. She looked around and when she locked eyes with Galatea both of them yelled, "You BITCH!"

"I'm going to rip your goddamn eyes out you bitch.", yelled Kara as Clark restrained her.

" I'm going to kick your fucking ass.", Galatea yelled trying to break her bonds as Dr. Hamilton tried to calm her down.

"I'd like to see you try."

"Bring it."

"ENOUGH!"

Both of them quieted at Superman's yell. "Kara you and me are going to wait outside until you cool down. " He then turned to Dr. Hamilton, "Take your time Emil." He walked out of the room with a tense Kara, who shot Galatea one last venomous look.

Hamilton waited until the door was closed before he started talking, "How are you feeling Tea.", he asked, using his nickname for her.

"I'm feeling pretty sore, but I'll be good In no time. Now enough about me. What's going on daddy? Why are you here?"

Hamilton nearly winced when she called him daddy. When he approached Cadmus to offer his expertise he truly thought he was doing the right thing. However he started to doubt when he witnessed their unsavory methods. When he saw the potential danger the Dark Heart posed to the world he advised them to destroy It. But they disregarded his advice, convinced they could control It. When the failed clone Doomsday proved to be more dangerous than Superman they again sought to use it despite his warnings. They proved to be no different than any other power hungry organization, playing with fire with no care who got burned. But what he regretted most was betraying the trust of two people who had faith in him. When Supergirl was brought to him gravely Injured, he's ashamed to admit he was more worried about being arrested then whether or not she would survive. After all the good she and Superman had done he had nearly refused her aid when she needed it most. Yet she still trusted him with her life. And he had repayed her by stealing her DNA to make a clone that would try to kill her. That same clone,who was currently in the bed in front of him, was the other person whose trust he had abused. He had helped create her, helped mold her into a weapon. They had aged her rapidly in order to achieve peak performance, so she didn't even have a childhood. Her entire worldview had been shaped by Cadmus to do their bidding. She had done horrible things in order to make her a perfect soldier. She even looked to him as a father figure, and he had used that to manipulate her mind.

"Daddy are you alright?", she asked concerned.

'She deserves to know the truth.', he thought resigned.

"Tea we need to talk."

* * *

Kara watched as Dr. Hamilton exited the room. She was still a little uneasy around him after what he did but he seemed to sincerely be sorry so she had decided to forgive him. He shared a look with her step-cousin Clark and they both started walking away. "Kara, you coming?", Clark asked her.

"No, I gotta do something." At his look she said, "Don't worry I'm not going to fight."

He gave her a nod and kept walking. She took a deep breath and opened the door. Galatea was staring off Into space but when she noticed Kara she scowled. "Come to gloat?", she said.

"What's eating you?", Kara asked.

"What's eating me? Everything I knew is a lie. Everything that was asked of me I did. They told me that some facility needed to leveled, or some guy needed to be silenced I did it no questions asked. I did terrible things but I always followed my order, even when a little voice in my head told me it was wrong. I was told it was all necessary, that I was protecting people. It was my entire purpose. And now I'm told that I was being used. That the people I took my orders from helped a man who nearly killed everyone for power." Galatea had started off angrily but by the end she was nearly in tears.

Kara had hated her for a while. She represented everything Kara was against and what she was afraid of becoming. But as she looked at her her anger drained away and she could only feel pity. She didn't know what to say but no words were needed. She just put her hand on her shoulder and offered what comfort she could.

* * *

The diplomatic team was gathered in front of the dimensional portal in order to start their mission. With them were a couple other heroes who had come to watch, including the league's founders as well as Dr. Hamilton, who had offered to help. "Alright you all know your objective. You've all properly prepared so all I can do is wish you good luck.", said Clark.

"WAIT!"

Everybody looked to see who had yelled and saw Kara and the prisoner Galatea. "We want to go too.", Kara said.

"Kara what are you trying to pull? She's dangerous.", Clark exclaimed.

"Listen I know what I'm doing", Kara said. "She is lost and doesn't know what to do with her life anymore. I think she needs this so she can have a purpose again."

"Kara she tried to kill you", Irons said.

"Yes and I decided to forgive her.", Kara said. "She wants to start over and do good. I think she deserves a second chance."

"She attacked the Watchtower", John said.

"I think we should give her another chance.", Shayera said. "I helped Invade Earth yet you all chose to give me a second chance, for which I am forever grateful."

"That's different. You helped stop the invasion and have worked hard to make up for it ever since.", John said

"I helped stop it because you all made me realize how wrong I was. She never had anybody and she hasn't had a chance to make up for it yet. Now we can help her to do so or we can deny her help and make her into what we fear she is."

"Don't worry I'll go with her to help keep an eye on her and help her.", Kara said.

"Alright, I trust your judgment so I'll give her a chance.", John said.

"Then it's decided", Bruce said.

Meanwhile, Hamilton had approached Galatea. "Tea, are you sure you want to do this?", he said.

"Yes. I need to figure out who I am and what I'm meant to do.", she said. She noticed him shifting nervously so she gave him a hug. "Despite everything you said you still always treated me with love. You're still my dad and you always will be."

"Thank you. Now go do what you have to do.", he said proudly.

Galatea and Kara both walked over to the rest of the team. "That was so sweet you gave me a stomachache.", Wally joked. He ended up with two bruised arms for his statement ("chicks can't take a joke"). The machine powered on and they looked back at the others one last time. Then the six of them stepped forward into the unknown.

Author's Note

Man I am so freaking pumped. I watched Mad Max:Fury Road and it was freaking awesome. You should watch this movie immediately. Anyway it gave me the adrenaline to finish this chapter. Which is ironic since this Is a pretty mellow one. But don't worry, next chapter is when shit starts going down. Little shout out to Sir beaver buttington (dude there are so many jokes I could make with that), who indulged my whimsiness when most people would have looked at me like the weird kid at school who ate bugs so kudos to you my man. I also got some...interesting. ..reviews from a dude called Anon. Uh, I don't know if this is obvious but I don't really know jack about the DC universe. I watched the DC animated shows like Batman, Superman, Static Shock but never read any of their comics (or any comics at all actually). I'm an anime guy so I'll try to get the important crap right but if you expect me to know that this guy beat that guy in issue whatever or any crap you need to read every comic ever to get then you're out of luck since I ran out of f# $s to give. Nah just kidding, but seriously I'm probably not gonna go to great lengths to get the details right. Well I shouldn't end t

his on a crappy note so I would like to say thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoy. Love THE-DUDE

[1] My little shout out to Black Ops. CoD may be mainstream crap but it is pretty damn fun at times.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League Unlimited, Prototype, or any of their affiliates. But I am friends with Kevin Conroy, right Kev? KC: Yes, we are the best of friends. Now where's my hundred bucks?

"Speaking"

'Thinking'

 _Telepathy_

Radio/Communications

 _Well this certainly went to hell in a handbasket , right guys?_ [1] , the Flash [2] thought

 _I didn't even know hell had handbaskets.,_ Supergirl shot back with a smile.

 _Kara, Wally focus. They've got high power rocket launchers on the roofs_ , J'onn warned.

The three of them scattered as a salvo of missiles were fired at them. Their mission had hit a bit of a snag.

The six heroes had planned to use the dimensional machine to arrive in the New York of the other world. Since the viral infection was centered there it meant eyes all over the world were focused on it, so it was the perfect place to make contact. It was also the best place from which to start helping. However, what they failed to take into account was that the machine they were using wasn't entirely accurate. It could send them where they wanted to go, but not in the right place. So when they walked through the portal into the other world they ended up in the middle of one of the marine blue zones with five hundred guns aimed at them.

They also underestimated how on edge the soldiers were. During the course of the infection the marines had, by necessity, developed a "shoot first" mentality. The only reason they hadn't opened fire Immediately upon 6 people suddenly appearing In the middle of the base was the heroes' outlandish appearance. Once they laid eyes on J'onn's alien appearance however, they got over that real quick. They started unloading their clips Into the heroes, who scattered. Even worse was that they had also learned not to hold back when they saw a threat. Within five minutes they had 5 strike teams, heavy artillery and armor, and marines pouring in by the dozens.

 _Well crap this is annoying_ , thought Steel as he blocked a tank round.

 _Yeah it really_ _is_ , replied Captain Atom. He was currently redirecting missile fire away from himself without endangering other's lives. _So what's the plan J'onn?_

 _Okay Supergirl, Galatea you two deal with the helicopters_ , J'onn ordered.

 _Right_ , they both said and flew off.

 _Flash, you disarm and incapacitate the men on the ground. Atom you do the ones on the roofs_ , J'onn said next.

 _Right-o_ , Flash said jovially.

 _Yes, sir_ , Cpt. Atom said seriously.

 _Steel, you and me will deal with the tanks and apcs_ , J'onn finished.

 _Alright, let's get to it_ , Steel yelled.

Galatea led two blackhawks under an overpass while they tried to lock onto her. When she made It out from under the overpass she shot upward and by the time they got out she was gone.

Delta, this is Bravo. I lost her you got eyes on?

Negative Bravo she's not on my scope.

They were searching around the buildings, one by one, when they turned a corner and Galatea dropped like a hammer on the tail of one of the choppers, severing It. As It was going down she grabbed the severed tail and aimed It at the other chopper's cockpit, but she hesitated and instead threw it at the back rotor. Then with a burst of speed she flew to the first chopper before it hit the ground and pulled the pilot out, and then flew to the other chopper to rescue the pilot before it hit a building. She had barely set them down on an adjacent rooftop when a third blackhawk flew in and set it's sights on her. As it was about to fire Supergirl barreled into it and knocked it off course. While the pilot tried to level out she flew to the top of it, where she proceeded to stop the rotors with her bare hands. She then bent them upwards so the chopper would be unable to fly and set it down on the rooftop Galatea was on.

"Nice save", Galatea said appreciatively.

"Yeah I know", Supergirl laughed. "Looks like you're doing good too."

"Tch, this is a cakewalk...but thanks."

Both of them looked at each other and couldn't help but smile with amusement, since about a week ago they had been trying to kill each other.

While they were having their moment a marine sniper was taking aim with a .50 caliber rifle equipped with armor piercing rounds. The way he figured It, even If It didn't kill them It would probably hurt like hell. Just when he was about to pull the trigger an Iron-like hand grabbed his wrist while the other crushed his rifle.

"That's no way to treat the ladies", said Captain Atom before he knocked him out.

He then turned to the two girls a quarter mile away. _Are you two done lollygagging because these guys are just waiting for you to drop your guard._

 _Relax sergeant, you don't have to worry about us. We are fully capable of sensing danger_ Supergirl said nonchalantly

 _Besides, none of these guys can actually hurt us_ , Galatea pointed out.

 _First of all, It's Captain. Second, never assume anything. We are not fully sure how this place affects us. Our powers may not fully work_ , Captain Atom argued

 _Alright you made your point_ , Supergirl said exasperatedly.

The three of them flew off to engage more enemies.

Meanwhile, a group of marines were standing In a circle with their backs to each other. They were doing this because while they were sweeping the area for enemies they had been dropping like flies. They hadn't been able to get a good look at who was doing It; all they had seen was a red blur.

They were scanning their surroundings, preparing for whatever would come their way, when one of them shouted, "on the left". They all swiveled In the direction he was pointing to see a guy In a red and gold suit. "Freeze asshole".

"Okay, I'm gonna give you guys one chance to surrender", the Flash said with a cocky smirk.

"Screw you"

"Don't say I didn't warn you.", Flash warned.

Suddenly he moved so fast he became a blur. The blur started circling the marines at speeds that made them dizzy. So dizzy In fact that It took them a few seconds to realize they were being pulled outward, towards the blur. They tried to hold on but It was all for naught as they were pulled off their feet Into the vortex. They were tossed about like rag dolls until It suddenly stopped and they all came crashing to the ground. No one got up.

"Ah, that was fun", Flash said with a smile. He turned around just as another team came around the corner. They had seen him but they didn't even have a chance to lift their weapons before the Flash had dashed straight into the center of the group, knocking them down like bowling pins. While they were down he started spinning on the spot, creating a mini tornado that grabbed up the soldiers and flung them in all directions.

When he finished he stood there admiring his handiwork until he was forced to dodge gunfire from above. Some soldiers on the roofs of several buildings were taking aim with heavy machine guns and grenade launchers.

 _A little help would be nice ._

Captain Atom suddenly came flying in and started plowing through the front of the buildings the marines were standing on. The buildings couldn't support themselves and the entire front halves started collapsing, taking the marines with them. Atom and Flash started grabbing the marines before they were buried under the rubble.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side", Flash said looking at the remains of the buildings. Atom simply rolled his eyes.

With their backs turned they didn't notice a tank taking aim at them.

"Maklusky, you locked on to the targets?"

"Yes sir, preparing to fi-OOMF" he said as the tank lurched. He looked through the viewing screen to see a guy In metal armor bending the tank's barrel back. Steel then jumped on top and stomped on the hatches latch, jamming It so it wouldn't open.

He then noticed another tank moving into position. He quickly jumped off to meet it. As it was turning it's turret towards him he took his hammer and swung it down onto the spot where the treads connected to the rest of the tank, destroying them and leaving the tank immobile. He then gripped the front and flipped it over, effectively Incapacitating it. "Looks like these two won't be any more trouble", he said in a satisfied tone. He then noticed a third tank that was too far for him to reach.

 _J'onn, tank 11 o'clock_ , he thought .

 _I see it_ , J'onn answered.

J'onn descended on it and phased inside. The crew wasn't prepared for him and in the cramped space he made quick work of them.

After he got out he checked in with the rest of the team.

 _Okay everyone, Steel and I are getting the armor under control. What are your situations?_ , J'onn asked.

 _Well these guys aren't that much trouble, they just have numbers on their side. It won't be much longer until we have them corralled_ , Captain Atom reported.

 _Same here, they were on defense from the start and now they're losing ground and momentum_ , Galatea stated.

 _We'll have this wrapped up In no time and maybe then we can get these people to li-ARRRGH_ , Supergirl started to say when she was suddenly hit with a rocket.

 _What the hell? Where did that come from?_ , Galatea asked. She didn't have time to ponder it long. She dodged to the side when several rounds from a grenade launcher came from her right. She was still in motion when she had to jump back from rounds coming from the front. 'Damn this Is annoying', she wondered. 'Why are they suddenly better organized. And aggressive. And they keep firing from different directions so I can't focus on them. If I wasn't trying to turn over a new leaf I would start obliterating buildings till there was nothing left alive'. She kept on moving around trying to dodge and locate them at the same time. 'It's bad enough they keep making me have to move, almost like...LIKE THEY'RE HERDING ME'. Too late she looked down at where she was standing and saw several C4 charges under her feet. They blew before she could move, and she was sent hurtling to the ground. She was pulling herself out of the rubble when another blackhawk came In fast and locked on to her with It's rocket launchers.

"Shi-"

The chopper started unleashing it's payload on her. Rocket after rocket rained down upon that one spot. The barrage lasted almost a full minute. When it ended there was nothing but rubble and smoke; there was nothing alive in the hole.

'Damn that was close', thought Galatea as she landed on a nearby streetlight.

 _Blondie where are you? You ok?_ , she thought frantically.

 _You know you are blonde too, right?_ , Supergirl answered.

 _If you can be a smartass you're alright_ , Galatea thought relieved. She started scanning the buildings for the enemy and saw some soldiers in black uniforms wearing gas masks.

 _Where did these guys come from?_ , Flash said upon seeing more soldiers moving in.

 _No clue, but they're better trained than your average soldier_ , Captain Atom observed as he saw them getting into strategic positions.

 _Still, training or not we should be able to take them. They're only human_ , Steel thought. Right after he said that, something crashed on top of him sending dust and debris flying everywhere. He came flying out of the dust cloud and crashed through the wall of a building. When he pulled himself out of the building he saw a man wearing a grey uniform and a gas mask, but what really struck him was the man's size. He was at least 7 feet tall and extremely bulky. More of them arrived and each joined up with a squad of the black soldiers. Seeing the new enemies, Steel summed up what all of them were thinking.

"Ah shit."

Author's Note

[1] I'm not sure how J'onn's telepathy works exactly so for this story he'll be able to set up a link with however many people he wants and they'll be able to talk to each other freely.

[2] During action scenes the leaguers will refer to each other by their superhero names. You know, professionalism.

Good day. I'm finally getting into the action. I decided to jump straight into it since the first few chapters have been pretty plot heavy. I hope you like it, I know I did. Writing this chapter was very satisfying since it's not something I've done much. I tried to give everyone their time to shine and make them all a little unique, not just them punching everybody. It was pretty satisfying, but it will be even better when I start writing Zeus fight scenes (or anybody without the superhero "no killing" rule). Also in case you were wondering, Heller won't be appearing in this story. Not that I don't like him but Mercer will be the focus of this story and another person like him will just be a distraction. Not to mention that since this is an Alex Mercer redemption story Heller probably won't get any powers. Well hope you enjoy the chapter and review so I can know what I'm doing wrong. May the force be with you.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League Unlimited, Prototype, or any of their affiliates. Not that I haven't tried.

"Speaking"

'Thinking'

 _Telepathy_

Radio/Communications 

"Alex you have to make a choice.", said Ragland.

"I know, but I'm choosing between two potentially bad options and I don't want to make a choice I'll regret.", Alex countered.

"Just choose whatever feels right Alex.", Dana encouraged.

"You're right Dana", Alex said with a nod. "I'll have the large steak and eggs, medium-rare, and a black coffee."

"Alright honey it'll be about 20 minutes", said the waitress. She took the order to the window to the kitchen in the back of the roadside diner the three fugitives had stopped in. They had managed to stay off the radar so far, but the military had checkpoints throughout the midwest (they were being careful) so they had went north along the canadian border before heading south. They were currently In Oklahoma.

"What was the big deal anyways?", Ragland asked.

"Most people have a romanticized view of diners, but 90% of the time the food tastes like shit.", Alex explained. "I just wanted to get something that tasted decent and I had a bad feeling about that ham."

"That reminds me" said Dana. "Why do you even need to eat anyways. I thought you could only consume...you know."

"Well that is something I'm trying to stop unless I have to do it.", said Alex. "Also I still have taste buds so even though I don't have to eat, it's definitely not something I'm gonna give up", he said with a smile.

Almost as if she had heard them, the waitress walked over with their food. "Here you go huns, hope you enjoy.", she said before walking away.

"You better hope she didn't hear what you said", Ragland said with a smirk. "Because If she did then she probably spit In your food."

"Eh, If I don't taste It then I don't really care", Alex said with a shrug. He took a bite and said, "This Isn't half bad. If they did do anything to It then they're really good at hiding It."

Dana made a disgusted face. "You're disgusting.", she said. Alex just laughed.

The three of them continued to joke and make conversation as they ate. Dana was glad that they had stopped. They had been under so much stress lately that It felt like they were on the edge of a cliff and about to fall. It was nice to relax and get the weight off their shoulders and just take a moment for themselves, however short.

Unfortunately, no good thing lasts forever. As Dana was laughing at something Ragland said she noticed a tv news report out of the corner of her eye. When she turned to look at it fully her eyes went wide. "Excuse me", she said urgently to a waitress," could you turn that up please?"

Both of her companions looked at her, confused, but before they could ask questions she shushed them and pointed to the screen as the waitress turned up the volume.

...live to our correspondent John Hamilton in the Channel 8 news chopper, who is on the scene. John? 

Thanks Diane. As you can see the military is mobilizing in large numbers below me. Several large groups of marines have moved out, as well as a number of tanks and attack helicopters. All of the forces have headed into the heart of the infected areas of Manhattan, also known as the "red zone". No statement has been issued as to the reason for the mobilization, but it is clear that this is no drill. Several explosions have already been heard, as well as what appears to be gunfire. Speculation is running rampant as to the cause of all this activity, and there are fears that this is a resurgence of the virus that ravaged New York, possibly even another terrorist attack. 

"What's going on?", Dana asked. "There's no way this is an attack. Blackwatch wouldn't be stupid enough to let that virus loose again and nobody else even knows it exists let alone has access to it."

"Do you think they lost control of the infection? ", Alex asked.

"No, with Greene dead they shouldn't have any problems. They've dealt with other outbreaks before without too much trouble.", Ragland stated

Wait Diane something seems to be happening. It looks like...HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT? 

John? John?! What is going on? 

Ahem. Ah...I apologize for my outburst Diane but this is something you must see to believe. 

As the camera panned over to what the newscaster was looking at many people in the diner gave shocked gasps. The only people who didn't overly react were the three fugitives (though this wasn't all that surprising given all that they had seen). They were simply watching the screen with wide eyes until Alex recovered enough to speak.

"Well, you don't see that every day."

* * *

Col. Anthony Rooks [1] was not a man to play games with. He had dedicated his life to blackwatch with a passion that bordered on fanaticism. Though he didn't take pleasure in it's methods like many others in the covert unit, he also didn't bat an eye when he carried out his orders; in his mind the ends always justified the means. However, recently he had found himself out of his depth.

With the deaths of Gen. Peter Randall and Col. Ian Taggart, he became the highest ranked and most experienced officer in the unit so he was forced to take command. This was completely unexpected and it caught Rooks flat-footed. It would take months just to organize the chaos that blackwatch had become, that is if there were no interruptions or setbacks, so he had ordered his men to pull out of the city and return to Ft. Dietrich. If that was his only problem it would've been very hard but do-able, but he had an even bigger problem.

In blackwatch's history they had dealt with several outbreaks. They were all In places that were too small or out of the way to be noticed, so it was very easy to erase all traces of the infection and neutralize any people who could potentially leak Information (which basically meant all of them). Several towns simply fell off the map due to their efforts. But Taggart wasn't exaggerating when he said that this Infection was like nothing they had seen. New York was not out of the way and far from small, which made It much harder to stay unnoticed. With the exception of Hope, Idaho they were usually able to contain an outbreak with minimal loss of life on their part, but the New York Infection was more organized and aggressive than they were able to handle so they brought In the marine corps. Blackwatch's methods bordered on crimes against humanity, which was easier to hide when they were working alone, but despite the lack of contact between blackwatch and the marines It didn't take long for their actions to cause problems. At first it was simply detaining people without sufficient cause which, though wrong, was considered perfectly acceptable due to how serious the situation was. But as the days went by it steadily grew worse. After that blackwatch began loading large groups of "suspicious" people into trucks, where they were shipped off to detention centers and never heard from again. When It started getting out of control they began executing people. Many were simply lined up In the street and shot, but a lot of times they found more vindictive ways like setting a building on fire and mowing down the civilians as they tried to escape. All of this was made worse by the obvious pleasure they took In their work. At the height of the chaos they were so hellbent on containing the Infection that they were killing anyone who could possibly spread the virus, Infected or not, until both them and the marines were shooting at each other almost as much as the Infected.

Naturally after some semblance of order was restored after the fighting was over, blackwatch found itself under intense scrutiny. Very few in the government were even aware of the unit's existence, and even fewer knew of it's activities and purpose. A full congressional hearing was scheduled in order to review every detail of the unit and it's history. The government decided to keep blackwatch and it's participation under wraps until the overview was finished and they could then figure out what to do. The marines were credited with containing the infection while the members of blackwatch were put under surveillance at a facility outside the city, away from prying eyes, while their ranking officers prepared for what was for all Intents and purposes a trial.

However, until the hearing they were still technically operational, and could still mobilize to combat any significant threats. So when an unknown threat appeared In the city, Col. Rooks took It upon himself to move his troops into the city.

He set up a command post in a modified apc filled with communication and monitoring equipment, so he could coordinate his men.

Red Crown this is Patriot , we have the enemy surrounded. What are your orders? 

Patriot this is Red Crown, I want the D-codes to move in and engage the enemies up close. The rest of you will provide cover from above. 

Affirmative Red Crown, moving in now. 

Rooks watched as his men moved in. He had 10 D-code soldiers under his command. Three of them engaged the two blonde women who were flying and downing the air support. Two more went after the man in the silver suit who, according to their instruments, was giving off radiation. Another three moved to box in the fast one so his speed wouldn't help him. The last two went after the green thing and the one in the armor, who were viewed as the ones who posed less of a threat.

The first three moved in on their targets, who still looked stunned at their sudden arrival. This allowed one of the soldiers to jump up and grab the leg of the one in the cape and drag her down to the ground. The other girl snapped out of her daze and was about to fly after them when the second soldier, who had moved to the roof of a nearby building, launched himself at her and tackled her Into the building across the street. Before she could get her bearings he got her Into a bear hug and began clubbing her over the head to knock her out, or at the very least stun her, but she blocked his fist and headbutted him causing his grip to slacken and allowing her to break free. She kneed him in the gut causing him to drop to one knee. She raised both of her hands and was about to bring them down on his head when the third soldier charged her from her left, knocking the wind out of her. He kept going, plowing her through the walls of the building until they crashed through the side and plummeted to the street below, where soldier #1 had the other girl pinned down. When the girl in the white suit hit the ground it distracted soldier #1 long enough for the one in the skirt to get her legs free and deliver a hard knee into his kidney, which she followed up with a kick to the head that sent him crashing into a streetlight. She began flying to her partner, who was fighting soldier #3, but she barely made it 5 feet before soldier #2 grabbed her by the ankle, pulled her back, and slammed his fist into her back smashing her into the asphalt. He looked up and saw that the other girl had flipped soldier #3 over her shoulder onto his back and was about to deliver a downwards kick to his face, so very quickly he grabbed the long-haired one by the cape and whipped her at the other girl, which sent them both crashing into the wall of a building. Before they could pull themselves out, soldier #2 charged them and tackled both of them, pinning them to the wall. They tried to push him off but before they could soldier #1 crashed Into the back of soldier #2, adding more force. To finish it off, soldier #3 slammed into their backs, causing the wall to give way and sending the 5 of them into the building, dust and debris flying everywhere.

Meanwhile, most of the normal forces were engaging the nuclear man, as they had come to call him. They were laying down heavy fire, and though they weren't able to hit him they were able to keep him moving and unable to retaliate. He headed to a nearby water tower, perhaps to take cover, but before he reached it D-code soldier #4 burst through, sending a cascade of water onto him and obscuring his vision. The soldier took the opportunity to knock him backwards into the arms of soldier #5, who immediately put him into a sleeper hold. The soldier tried to make him pass out but nuke-man started elbowing him in the ribs forcing him to let go. Nuke-man capitalized on the moment and gave the soldier a hard punch to the solar plexus and was about to deliver another blow when he was hit from behind by a rocket. He recovered quickly and turned to see a footsoldier taking aim with a rocket launcher, but when he fired nuke-man simply knocked It off course causing It to hit an air conditioning unit behind him. His hands started to glow and he tensed, preparing to fly at the grunt, when he was shoulder charged by soldier #4, sending him flying towards soldier #5, who spiked him down to the street like volleyball. He hit the ground hard but got up just as soldier #5 hit the ground and they charged at each other and locked hands, both trying to overpower the other. As they were struggling, nuke-man looked left In time to see soldier #4 swing a streetlight at him, but not In time to dodge. He was knocked over the buildings Into the adjacent street and both soldiers jumped after him to continue the fight.

As this was going on, a few streets over a blur was racing down the road and swerving to avoid gunfire from above when a bus landed In It's path. It was forced to stop, revealing Itself to be a man In a red and gold suit with a lightning bolt on his chest. He was stationary for less than a second before he changed course and went down a side street, just In time to avoid being crushed underneath soldier #6. Speedy was accelerating around a corner when he had to slide under a clothesline from soldier #7.

"Haha. And my mom always said learning how to power slide like Hendrix would never come in handy", he quipped.

He didn't have much time to gloat as the soldier threw a punch at him, which he was able to spin around. He jumped out of the way of a downwards punch which smashed into the street.

"Come on big guy, is that the best you can do? ", he asked.

The soldier then ripped a large chunk of the street out and turned towards him, holding it over his head.

"Wow dude, you don't have to take it so personally.", he said with wide eyes.

He had to duck into a nearby alley to avoid the flying chunk of asphalt. However, almost as soon as he started running down it he was hit full force by a flying dumpster, which propelled him back into the street.

"Ugghh, did anyone get the name of that car?", he groaned.

He looked from his position on the ground to see soldier #8 walk out of the alley. Speedy was about to get up when the soldier leapt forward, grabbed him, and threw him down the street. He landed in an intersection, with two perpendicular streets forming a T. He shot to his feet and saw soldier #8 stalking towards him from the way he came. He heard a crash to his right and looked to see soldier #7 now blocking the street in that direction. He turned to go in the other direction but saw soldier #6 walking towards him. As the three soldiers closed in around him he started spinning very fast, creating a mini tornado that started pulling the soldiers off their feet. Soldiers #6 and 7 had to grip the ground to avoid being pulled in, but soldier #8 bent forward and, slowly but surely, kept on moving towards the man until he was right next to him, at which point he reached forward and grabbed him by the neck.

"Hey buddy, can't we talk about this? ", the man asked in a strained voice.

The soldier turned and threw him. He flew 50 ft. before he hit a wall, which cracked from the force of the Impact. He looked up slightly dazed but his eyes widened when he saw a car heading right for him.

"Oh crap", he said right before it impacted and exploded.

Meanwhile, soldier #9 was walking towards the guy in the armor, who he had knocked into a building and who had pulled himself out of the rubble. The soldier heard crashes and looked to his right where he saw soldier #10 attacking the weird green humanoid. The thing kept dodging his attacks. The soldier ripped a lamppost out of the ground and swung it in a wide arc, forcing it to duck. The soldier took the opportunity to charge, causing the thing to quickly backpedal before retreating into a nearby building, the soldier following after him. He then turned back towards the armored man.

"Surrender now or prepare to be terminated with extreme prejudice", the soldier ordered.

Col. Rooks looked upon the scene witha a smile on his face for how well his men had performed. But his smile faded when the armored guy started to chuckle.

"What's so funny? ", the soldier snarled.

"You guys think you have us on the ropes? ", he asked. "You probably watched us fighting a little while ago and think you have the measure of us. Well let me tell you that we were going easy on those guys earlier. You may have caught us off guard when you blitzed us but trust me, you ain't seen nothing yet."

The soldier was about to retort when he heard a bunch of loud crashes before someone flew through the side of one of the buildings. When the dust settled it showed soldier #1 on the ground unconscious. The 2 blonde girls stepped through the hole he made, the one in the skirt and cape was dragging soldier #2, who was knocked out, while the short-haired one in the white suit was holding soldier #3 by the front of his suit.

"You know I gotta admit, these guys can sure pack a punch", the skirted one said while rubbing her jaw.

"Yeah, but it's nothing we can't handle", the short-haired one said. She then reared back her fist and punched soldier #3 so hard he crashed through several buildings before coming to a stop. He didn't look like he was getting up anytime soon.

A group of grunts on some buildings across the street witnessed the entire thing and started unloading their weapons on the young women. Both of them raised their arms to block the heavy fire when the cape wearing girl's eyes started glowing and red beams shot out of her eyes. She used them on the buildings the men were standing on, cutting straight through the front of them and causing nearly the entire front half of the buildings to collapse, sending the men falling 30 ft to the ground.

Those who were still conscious staggered to their feet to attack again, when the nuclear man dropped in front of them causing them to stop.

"You guys should stay down", he stated. "Do you know how painful radiation burns are?"

They looked at him in nervousness when they heard a loud crash from behind him.

"You should ask him", he said, pointing behind himself with a smirk.

The men looked and were shocked at what they saw. Soldier #5 was standing there and it was obvious he had seen better days. He was breathing heavily and had several deep cuts that were bleeding heavily, as well as numerous angry red and painful looking burns. Soldier #4 was nowhere in sight.

"I'm going to rip you apart you fucking son of a bitch", the soldier yelled in an anger and pain filled voice. He charged at nuke-man like an angry bull.

Without even looking, nuke-man ducked under the soldier's wild punch. He then quickly spun and delivered a rising uppercut to the soldier's chin, making him rise high into the air before hitting the ground in an unmoving heap.

Soldiers #6, 7, and 8 heard the commotion and were about to go help when they heard a whistle and a voice say, "Yoohoo, up hear guys."

The soldiers turned and saw the speedster sitting on the ledge of a building.

"You know guys I'm deeply hurt. I thought we were having a good time, but as soon as I leave you go and try to find a new dance partner. Some dates you are", he said with a smile.

The three men were about to jump at him, when he suddenly disappeared. They looked around to see where he went when soldier #6 was hit by blur. The other 2 turned when they heard his pain-filled grunt but suddenly soldier #7 took a hit to the head from the blur. Soldier #8 barely had time to register that his ally had been hit before he took a hit as well. The hits kept on coming, each one coming faster than the last, until all 3 of them were taking a hits left and right. Suddenly, the man stopped in between soldiers #6 and 7 and started bouncing between them like a pinball, delivering a hit each time. He was moving so fast it looked like one solid red-gold line was connecting the 2 men. Soldier #8 recovered enough to start staggering over to them when the fast man suddenly stopped and ran towards him. Before the soldier could react, Mr. Speed started delivering a barrage of machine gun-like punches so fast his fists were a blur. For nearly 10 seconds he struck the soldier's abdomen at a blistering rate before delivering a final punch to his chest. He held that pose, his fist extended, when all three men fell to the ground unconscious.

"Mad Dance of Infinity [2]", he said with a smile.

Soldier #9 was shocked at how quickly the tide had turned. He heard another crash and looked around to see soldier #10 against a nearby el train support beam with the green thing with it's body wrapped around him like a snake. It cut off his ability to breathe until he passed out, at which point it released him.

Soldier #9 was brought out of his observations by a fist to the face courtesy of the metal man. He crashed against a tank.

"Alright pal, it's just you and me. Bring it on!", the man said as he hoisted his hammer.

The soldier jumped on top of the tank and ripped the barrel off. The 2 men stared each other down. As if an unspoken signal went off they both charged. The soldier swung his makeshift club downwards but the other man blocked with the handle of his weapon. He pushed the soldier back and took a swing which the soldier dodged. They continued exchanging blows, both trying to find an opening, when the soldier swept the other man's feet out from under him, causing him to drop his hammer. He got up to one knee but before he could fully stand he had to block the soldier's swing. The soldier kept applying more force, trying to overpower the other man. The metal man took one of his hands off the weapon and punched the ground. This caused the soldier to lose his footing for a moment, which allowed the other man to get up and knock the weapon from his hands. He then kicked the soldier in the chest, bent down to grab his hammer, and spun to the left, a full 360 degrees gathering speed and force, and with a yell smashed it into the side of his head, dropping him like a sack of potatoes.

It became deathly quiet. All 6 of the intruders gathered back in the spot they had appeared. The remaining marine and blackwatch soldiers formed a perimeter around them, ready to fire at a moments notice. Col. Rooks could feel the tension in the air, could practically taste it. Suddenly the green-skinned one stepped forward and all the soldiers tensed. He held his hands up at shoulder height and, to everybody's surprise, spoke.

"We don't want to fight. We only came to talk."

Rooks mentally scoffed. 'Talking about peace after decimating my men', he thought irritably. He was about to give the order to fire when...

"EVERYBODY STAND DOWN! "

Col. Rooks, the soldiers, and even the intruders looked to the source of the voice and saw a marine officer with two more marines flanking him. He walked to the command vehicle and stepped inside. Col. Rooks was shocked at the audacity of the man.

"Who the hell do you think...", he began, but the man just pushed past him and grabbed the radio.

This is Maj. Gen. Henry Braddock and I am ordering everybody to stand down NOW! 

The soldiers reluctantly lowered their weapons. Col. Rooks stepped towards him.

"Sir, these people attacked us. They are extremely dangerous."

"Who fired first? ", the man asked looking around at everyone gathered. Most of the soldiers had crowded around to hear an explanation.

"Well?", he asked again.

A random marine stepped forward. "Uh, well I did sir. They invaded the base so I considered them a threat."

"Yes this is a restricted area, but that means they are supposed to be detained and questioned, not attacked", Braddock said.

Another soldier stepped forward. "Well sir you obviously weren't in the city during the infection because..."

"You're right I wasn't here. And I know what you all went through. Don't think I'm not aware of your sacrifices", he said with a nod. "But still, you are marines. You are trained to be the best. You are trained to assess and think before you engage. Otherwise we would just become common murderers. You should never forget your training under any circumstances."

He took a moment to clear his throat and looked around at the gathered men. "Now, here's what I know. When they arrived they didn't immediately attack. And as we all saw they clearly outclassed our forces. Yet they didn't take any soldier's life, and even went out of their way to prevent loss of life. And now they are entreating us to engage in talks", he listed. "Therefore I believe their intentions are, at best, positive and, at worst, neutral. So I will, under the authority of the President of the United States, make contact with them."

"But sir", one marine said, "how do you know they won't attack you?"

"Simple. We've been standing here talking with our guards down and they haven't taken advantage of It yet", he said with a slight rebuke for them. The soldiers quickly realized this and snapped to attention with not a little bit of embarrassment.

As Braddock was about to go speak to the strange group, a spotlight shined down on them from a helicopter that had "Channel 8" written on it's side.

"How did that news chopper get into the restricted zone?", he barked to one of his men.

"Sorry sir. We mobilized most of the air support so there weren't many to prevent unauthorized entry", one of them explained.

"Well no use crying over spilled milk. I guess I'm going to be on tv", he said before marching towards the group of strangers.

He stopped roughly 10 ft from the green one, who appeared to be in charge. They were both silent for a while. Though Braddock was pretty sure they were friendly and he was planning on being civil, he also knew it would be stupid not to be a little cautious. However, the other man (?) was completely calm and at ease. Not in an arrogant way but as if he knew Braddock wouldn't attack him. This caused Braddock to unconsciously relax as well.

"I am Maj. Gen. Henry Braddock. I would like to know who you are and what your intentions are", he said.

"Hello General", the green man said. "My name is J'onn J'onzz, and we are not from this world."

Braddock could tell that he would be having major headaches in the future and mentally sighed.

'I'm getting too old for this shit.'

Author's Note

[1] I don't know Rooks' first name so this is what I'm gonna use.

[2] This is from the first Naruto ultimate ninja storm. If you know this attack then aside from the pinball part the Flash's attack is completely based on it.

Well I finally got this chapter out after about a week and a half. And in that time I barely got any reviews. It makes me sad *sniffle*. But I'm just gonna assume that I'm so friggin awesome that nobody has anything bad to say about my story (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). But if you have any complaints or suggestions feel free to knock me down a peg. Trust me I can take it. Just no flames. If you flame you better be ready for a fight cuz I'll be coming at you with razor blades and lemon juice. Now onto the real crap. This chapter was very hard for me. I had so much fun with the action scenes last chapter that all the dialogue at the beginning of this one went by very slowly. I tried to make each fight unique but my creative juices started to run out near the end. I had to really push through to finish this chapter. I'm going to skip the explanations next chapter and try to get to the parts where the league starts helping. I also want to focus on some of the side heroes from the jlu show like Vigilante or Atom Smasher. So if you have any characters that you want to see let me know. Well that's all I have for now so I... wait I wonder if anybody is reading this. I know I don't always read the Author's Notes at the end of stories, though I do try. Makes me wonder what random crap I can get away with writing here. Actually that's a good way to see if anyone read this far. If you are reading this tell me some random words to put in my ANs. Whether they be crude or just weird, nothing too offensive though. Live long and prosper.

Postscript (that's what P.S. means you uneducated neanderthals): I'm thinking of doing one of those "characters watch their show" stories for Naruto. Haven't we all read or watched something where we say "man if only they could see how their life turns out". Like Naruto. Everyone, except Hinata, was always talking crap about that knucklehead despite how awesome he was. But if they saw how boss he became, and the good looks he inherited from his dad they would change their tune.I would give the other great characters their due too, don't you worry. Most of these stories get abandoned due to the sheer length of the story so if I did do it I would only focus on important moments like the sound five battles, Hidan and Kakuzu's fights, and Sasuke having his punk ass handed to him by Killer Bee. Give me your opinions, though it's a big if for this story and even if I did do it I wouldn't publish it for awhile due to this story. Ja ne.

P.S.S.: I almost forgot but I'm gonna be busy with other things so probably won't update very soon.

P.S.S.S.: I just realized that I can see what country people are reading this from. The #2 European country on the list is Germany, my favorite country there. The germans I've met have been very nice and polite and not at all arrogant and condescending like the rest of Europe, like the french. They were also really cool and could party like nobody's business, unlike the french (my apologies to any frenchmen reading this).


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League Unlimited, Prototype, or any of their affiliates. If I did I wouldn't be living in the I.E. I'd be having a Samuel Adams in Boston, sipping wine in Florence, and chilling in Jerusalem drinking whatever the hell they drink over there.

"Speaking"

'Thinking'

 _Telepathy_

Radio/Communications 

A/N: Hey your main man the Dude here. I wanted to put this up since I haven't shown my thanks for the people who have read this story. I didn't think anybody was reading It since it didn't get many reviews...until I checked the number of views and saw it was over 1, 000 (even a few from Canada, eh?). And the last chapter was the most read yet. I can't thank everybody personally but I can at least give a shout out to the people who gave a review, however short.

Bl4nk: Thanks for the constructive criticism. You actually made me put some thought Into where this story would go. And props for getting my obscure video game reference. Most probably wouldn't have even cared to give me an answer (unless you weren't referencing that game, In which case don't I look like a pretentious ass).

Anon: I'm gonna be honest dude, I only read the first line of your review before I skipped It. It wasn't the length of It, but more along the lines of I didn't understand what you were talking about or know what your point was. However beggars can't be choosers (no offense you're probably an awesome guy) so I guess I should say thanks...for reading...I guess?

Mr Beaver Buttington: There are so many jokes I can make about that name, but I'm gonna ignore all that and say thanks for reading. And for indulging my tendency to make bad jokes. You sir are a saint.

Brown Phantom: Holy crap. You giving a review is like getting praise from Kobe (or whoever's top dog right now. I don't really follow sports). I've read tons of your stories. My favorite is Kitsune of Las Noches. And now I'm rambling so I'll just finish this by saying thanks.

Slycutter: Thank you kind sir or madame. Nice to see that SOMEBODY appreciates my humor. The rest of you need to go to the hospital and get your funny bones examined.

fanfic browser: Thanks for reading.

edboy4926: Thank you for the support.

Random Fan 5536: Big thanks for reviewing.

Lost Peace: My gratitude for reading this story.

Paradox009: Glad you enjoy the story.

Also thanks to the random reader who made me remember that Zeus isn't technically Alex. But for this story he most identifies with Alex's memories since he was the original and will refer to himself as such and refer to Dana as his sister. Also thanks to all the other random reviewers and readers. I would give you guys a hug but unfortunately the technology to send those over cyberspace hasn't been invented yet (one day though, and it will be glorious).

Now let's get back to reading this thing of ours. If you don't you might have an "accident" and end up sleeping with the fishes.

* * *

Bruce Wayne could feel the tension In the room. It was so thick he could practically taste It. It felt like a blade at their throats and the slightest movement would end in death. It was hanging over them like a vulture of Impending death. It permeated the room like a miasma, suffocating those who were surrounded by It.

Ok it wasn't as bad as that, but the tension in the room was palpable. He was with fellow JLU founders J'onn, Wally, and Clark, as well as high-ranking officials of the alternate US. In the room was the Vice-President, the Joint Chiefs of staff, the Secretary of the Navy, and Col. Rooks. There were also several who were communicating via video. These were the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Air Force, the Secretary of Defense, and the President himself.

Currently everybody was still and unmoving. They were all stony faced, nobody giving out a hint of what their thoughts and emotions were. It was like a high stakes poker game, both sides trying to get the measure of the other. Trying to see past the outer shell and peer into the others head. Though one side had a bit of an unfair advantage over their opponents.

 _J'onn, what are you picking up from them?_ , Clark asked.

 _Well obviously I can't get a feel for the ones not in the room, so unfortunately two of the most Important people In the meeting are a mystery_ , J'onn stated

 _Wait, who's the second guy?_ , Wally asked in confusion.

 _The Secretary of Defense. If this world is similar to ours, and I'm pretty sure it is, then like ours the SecDef presides over the entire armed forces and reports directly to the President_ , Bruce answered.

 _Which also means that four of the people In this meeting answer to him so his decision is very crucial_ , J'onn finished.

 _Now that we have that covered, what do you sense J'onn?_ , Bruce asked

 _Well there a few of them so it's hard to focus on a specific thought or feeling. It doesn't help that their minds are extremely frantic and somewhat disorganized, though that's to be expected given what they just heard. There is one very clear mind_ , J'onn said.

 _Who is it?_ , Clark asked.

 _That man Rooks wants to put a bullet in the back of our heads and burn our bodies_ , J'onn answered.

 _That's reassuring_ , Wally quipped.

 _It's becoming clearer. The Vice-President is suspicious of us, as are the joint chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman. Surprisingly both the Secretary of the Navy and the Commandant of the Marines seem to be open to the idea of working with us_ , J'onn stated.

 _It's probably due to the fact that their men were the most prominent ones In the city and know the type of things they are up against_ , Bruce said matter-of-factly.

 _Well given what we know this situation calls for..._ , Clark began.

 _Action!_ , Wally finished.

 _Wait Wally don't!_ , Bruce thought alarmed.

"Alright everybody, I'm sure we're all tired of this little mexican showdown we got going here so why don't we just put everything on the table", he said confidently.

Every eye turned to him as he spoke. Quite a few of the people, on both sides, were extremely agitated. Bruce especially wanted to strangle him in that moment, but figured it would make a bad impression so reigned in his murderous impulse and kept his face impassive. Wally took the lack of protest as permission to continue.

"Now, the facts: As you undoubtedly saw we are very strong. Really strong. We could've done more than simply incapacitate those soldiers. We dominated them no problem. It wasn't even a contest. And as you probably already guessed, there are more of us where we came from. A lot more", Wally stated.

If looks could kill then he would've been stabbed by the daggers everybody was looking at him with, crushed under the oppressive weight of their displeasure, and his remains burned by the simmering heat of their anger, specifically Clark's.

'Is he trying to start a freaking war or is he just that clueless?', Clark thought. He then let out a resigned sigh. 'Why am I even asking that question? '

Most were content to simply glare, but somebody who had previously gone unnoticed decided to make his opinion known.

"Who the hell are you to threaten us?", the President's bodyguard said angrily. "You think you can come here and lord over us? This is the President of the United States, not some weakling that you can just push around. And..."

It was at this point that the President interrupted. "Luther, Luther just rope it in alright."

"Yes sir", Luther said. Then in low tone to himself he said, "Dial it back Luther, damn."

"Would you please let me finish?", Wally said exasperatedly. "Like I was saying, we could've done that but the point is we didn't, despite the fact that your men attacked us first. And In case you haven't noticed we've put ourselves at your mercy. We are In a location that you chose and are surrounded by your men. We have sat here and explained our purpose and motivations as best we can and have let you process It at your leisure."

Most of the government officials looked thoughtful at his words and the tension In the room had lessened considerably.

"We aren't your enemies. We just wanna help", he said in a kinder voice.

His three companions looked pleasantly surprised.

 _Whenever I wonder why we keep you around Wally, you end up pulling off something like this_ , Bruce said with a small smile.

 _I may be a llittle immature and unprofessional, but I have my moments_ , Wally said back.

Their focus was brought back to the room when the SecDef cleared his throat.

"Listen, what you said was all very true and you seem very earnest and honorable, but you must understand that we can't simply give you our trust. History shows that whenever two populations meet, the less advanced one ends up with the short stick", he said.

"You have good reason to be cautious and we respect that. But as history also shows, first contact between two populations dictates how most future relations between the two goes", Clark said. "We are simply offering aid. It Is our gift to you."

"That didn't work out so well for the Trojans", the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs pointed out.

"And what about the American people. And the international community. This could cause panic. When other countries hear about this they may attack due to fears of you being an American weapon", the Vice-President said.

"I know this is a hard decision to make and it's very tempting to take the safer easier option", J'onn said. "But that isn't always the right one. Sometimes you have to go down a hard rocky road to get to the other side. We are asking you to take a leap of faith and trust us."

The government officials looked to be contemplating his words, until someone decided to make their opinion known for the first time.

"We as a nation have pulled together in times of crisis. That was true two hundred years ago and it is still true today", the President said. "However, during these times of crisis we have also become antagonistic and paranoid to certain groups, blaming many for the actions of a few. This is not done out of anger, but is caused by ignorance and fear. We fear the unknown. A great man once said that the only thing to fear was fear itself. I don't want my presidency to be remembered as the one that denied the hand of friendship and aid out of fear. I want history to look back at this moment as the first step in ending the cycle of fear."

He then looked directly at the delegates of the JLU. "Mr. J'onzz I am giving you my trust and support. I can only hope that it is not misplaced."

"Thank you sir. I give you my word that we will not betray your trust."

The President tilted his head In acknowledgement. It was then that the Marine Commandant got the attention of the room.

"First off I want to say that I thank you for offering your support. We definitely need all the help we can get", he said with genuine thanks and respect. "Also about your request. We'd be glad to give you what we know about the outbreak and it's cause. Col. Rooks will brief you."

"You can't be serious", Rooks exclaimed in anger.

Before he could talk further SECNAV stood and slammed his hands on the table in front of him. "We did not give you permission to speak Colonel". Which effectively shut Rooks up.

"This is not a negotiation Rooks. You may have operated without regard to the chain of command but that is no longer the case", SECNAV continued. "You and your entire unit are under investigation. The only reason you are not in jail, let alone attending this meeting, is because you have valuable knowledge of this virus and those behind it. If you do not comply then we will use force to make you tell us. You can take the easy way or the hard way, either way you will talk. Am I understood?"

Rooks looked like he was forced to swallow poison, but eventually he ground out, "Yes sir".

"Good, then I think we are finished for now. Gentlemen this meeting is adjourned", the President declared.

* * *

The members of the JLU who had volunteered to enter the other universe were gathered in a large meeting room with several members of blackwatch. They were gathered there to be briefed on the intel blackwatch had. At the front of the room was a white screen and a projecter to provide a visual aid.

The JLU founders that were in attendance were Clark, Bruce, Shayera, and Wally. J'onn had decided to return to their universe because he was needed to help coordinate the remaining JLU members. Shayera volunteered to take his place because she said it was what she needed to do.

Shayera noticed that Clark had a satisfied expression on his face and she was curious about what caused it.

"What's got you in such a good mood", she asked him.

"Oh that's right I forgot to tell you", he said while hitting himself in the forehead. "The President held a press conference laat week to Introduce us to the public, and a few days later we met with the UN".

"I'm assuming it went well"

"Very. The reporters were vultures obviously, but the other civilians seemed to be taking it well, all things considered. The represantitives from the UN were initially wary due to suspicions about our allegience, be we assured them that after this crisis is dealt with we will be willing to sit down and have talks."

"You know, I think that this is the beginning of something extraordinary. I hope one day this, as well as other universes, will join together and bring about a new era".

"Well we are a long way from that. But I think this is the first step to that day".

"Shhh, it's starting", Bruce informed them.

One of the soldiers moved to the front of the room.

"Let's begin."

He turned on the projecter, which showed a picture of a young man in a lab coat.

"This is Dr. Alex Mercer. He was hired by the company Gentek several years ago. He quickly distinguished himself as one of the most brilliant virologists the company had ever was given high level clearance and reported directly to the company's director, Dr. Raymond McMullen. Gentek was used by the government to research and experiment on a virus created as part of a project from the '60s codenamed 'Carnival II'. The virus was called 'Redlight'."

"What was the virus' purpose?", Clark asked.

"The human body utilizes only 10% of It's potential. Redlight was designed to unlock untapped parts of the human genome."

"That's wrong on so many levels. You can't simply rewrite humanity's basic code. You're messing with things you don't understand.", the Atom said.

"Whether it was right or wrong is irrelevant. The potential benefits were deemed too Important to Ignore. As I was saying, the virus was continously evolving, creating new strains almost daily. Research continued for years In an attempt to harness the virus, but It wasn't until Mercer joined the project that we experienced our greatest breakthrough In years. Within three years he made the virus ten times more effective. The new strain he created was codenamed dx-1118, also known as 'Blacklight'. Due to the nature of the virus, upon entering a person's body Blacklight caused extreme mutations to occur. Most of the time the changes were too extreme. It had a 99.999% mortality rate. Those that survived well..."

He switched to the next slide in the projecter, which showed several of the infected. Many of the heroes recoiled in either shock or disgust.

"Though it must be noted that during the New York outbreak the mortality rate was significantly lower and there were much more surviving entities."

"Do you have any Idea as to why?", Shayera asked.

"No"

However, two people In the room couldn't help but notice a slight hesitation before he answered.

"What can you tell us about this Mercer fella?", asked Vigilante.

"Mercer is not just a genius in the lab, he is also an incredibly intelligent strategist. His former boss McMullen described him as a lateral thinker. He has contingencies for his contingencies. Finding him will not be easy. He was in Manhattan during the infection, from start to finish, and evaded capture the entire time. He knows how to disappear. We also believe he has help."

The slide changed to show an older african-american man.

"This is Dr. Bradley Ragland. He worked at Gentek on both Redlight and Blacklight, where he first came into contact with Mercer. We believe he passed intel to Mercer."

The next slide showed a young red-haired woman.

"This is Dana Mercer, Alex Mercer's sister."

"No really?", Wally said sarcastically.

"She is believed to have sheltered her brother during the outbreak."

"Any idea on their current whereabouts?", Bruce asked.

"A few weeks ago three individuals stole a supply truck and made it past one of the checkpoints using forged papers. Their description fits the three fugitives."

"So in other words you lost them", Wally said.

"We've frozen their passports and have placed stringent security measures on all air and water traffic, so they won't be able to leave the continent. And we have checkpoints all over the Midwest (which they probably already know about) so they'll most likely go north Into Canada or south Into Mexico, though with a guy like Mercer you can never be certain of anything. That Is all the Information we have at this time. We will Inform you if we acquire new information. Thank you."

With the briefing over, the heroes started leaving to get started on their work. However, Bruce slipped silently through the crowd to supply closet. He entered it then closed and locked the door.

"So you noticed it too", he said to the seemingly empty room.

"Of course", answered a voice. Out of the shadows stepped the Question. "They're not telling us the whole story. They told us enough of their dirty secrets to make us think that that's the worst they did. Yet they were extremely eager to give us Information on Mercer. What do you think?"

"I think that a person doesn't help a criminal in their family unless they believe they are innocent."

* * *

"Houston we have landed!"

Alex groaned at his sister's words as they entered the Houston city limits.

"Hey do you think they still have the Apollo 13 space shuttle?", Dana asked.

"You do know that it didn't happen like the movie right?", Alex asked.

"I don't care I still wanna see it.", she said.

"This is no time to be fooling around you two", Ragland scolded. "We have to find somewhere to hide and get some disguises...then we can go."

They were laughing and having fun until a shiver went down Alex's spine.

"What's wrong Alex?", Dana asked concerned.

"I don't know. I just feel like something crazy is going to happen soon."

* * *

Author's Note.

I am freaking pissed people. This has been a terrible week for me. Why you may ask. Well my week began with the fact that Glenn might be dead. It's even worse not being sure, there's no closure. And my computer hasn't been working for a while so I've been doing my writing on my phone the last few weeks. A few times I've written large chunks of my chapters only for my phone to mess up right when I'm about to save It. And It keeps making typos and messing up my sentences. I may be chillax about most things but I can't stand bad grammar. I was always in spelling bee's in school. And one of my favorite writers, owlgirl16, was forced to take down 3 of her stories due to pressure from up top. It's bad enough that I really liked those stories, but It also makes me mad because of how stupid this site Is sometimes. I get trademarks and being protective of your IPs but sometimes people take It too far. She made a story by using the source material as a starting point and adding some original stuff. That's no different than other stories on here. So what If she used direct quotes from the source. She didn't try to make money off it, she didn't take credit for the lines she used, and she added some originsl stuff too she didn't just copy the show down. What was she supposed to do, call Kishimoto directly and get his permission? Does KISS sue every garage band that sings "Strutter". What about if they do a dubstep version? As long as they don't take credit for it and make money off it it should be cool. This site doesn't just make rules on what you can write about but also how you write it. This Is a fan fiction site not some professional publisher. Some people come here to practice writing because they wamt to write a book one day and be a real writer someday. Some people come to read or write cool stories. This Is a place to share opinions and Ideas, to have conversations or have a laugh. For some people it's stress relief, a way to unwind and get things off their chest. Some people use it to focus. And some people just wanna have fun and you shouldn't be told how to have a good time. Damnit this is America (actually I'm not sure what country this site is from but you get my point). As long as it's not too offensive and you don't mess with other people then everything else shouldn't matter. Sorry for ranting everybody I usually don't do that.

Anyway, I know last chapter I said I was gonna skip the exposition but I had some ideas for that scene and it snowballed from there. Thanks for reading this and if you wanna leave a review or just share your righteous fury about something that pisses you off then feel free. It's the least I can do for making you read about my rants. May the Father of Understanding guide you (man I've been playing too much Ass. Creed. That's what my sister used to call it just to mess with me).


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League Unlimited, Prototype, or any of their affiliates. What gave it away? The fact that this is a fanfiction website? Nice detective work there sherlock.

"Speaking"

'Thinking'

 _Telepathy_

Radio/Communications

Wally West had been to many places in the universe. He had seen very nice places, like Oa the homeworld of the Green Lantern Corps. He had also seen very horrible places, like the hellish world of Darkseid, Apokolips. However, there was one place he had vowed never to return to. A place he had only visited once before. A place that sent chills down his spine as he remembered the creatures he had come across.

"Why the hell are we in Jersey again?", Wally asked Clark as they walked down a hallway in the city hall of Hoboken.

"The military, and by extension us, need to plan and coordinate and we can't keep doing that in mobile command posts.", Clark replied. "We need a central HQ so people know where to report to and where they can get intel and support."

"Why couldn't we set up in NYC?", Wally asked. "Wouldn't it be better to be as close to the situation as possible?"

"New York may be recovering but It's still not stable enough for us to set up command there. But we still want to be close by in case there's trouble, so Jersey it is.", Clark said. "Besides, New York doesn't really need our help anymore."

Wally huffed. "Fine.", he said. The two of them stopped in front of a pair of double doors.

"Ok we're here.", Clark said. "And Wally, please don't embarrass me." He opened the door and they stepped into the room.

They entered into a conference room with a large table in the middle. There was already several people standing around the table. There was the SECARMY Arnold Blake, the SECNAV Richard Tyler, the Commadant of the Marines Joseph Winchester, Bruce Wayne, Shayera Hol, Nathaniel Adams, and The Question. On top of the table was a map of the continental United States.

"So what's the situation guys?", Clark asked.

"Well it's been 3 weeks since Mercer and co. escaped the city. At first we considered that they may head to another major population center on the east coast, like Boston, Philadelphia, or even DC. However we figured that given the heightened awareness and paranoia In these cities they would avoid them at all costs.", Winchester said.

"So you figured they'd head west.", Adams said.

"Yes, that's why we set up checkpoints all throughout the midwest.", Blake said. "To avoid them they'll either head north to Canada or south to Mexico."

"Well since they started In the northeast it would make more sense for them to head towards Canada.", Bruce said. "Though I don't think they'll actually cross the border."

"Why do you think that? It would make sense for him to leave the country and he can't do It by air or water.", Tyler said.

"If he crosses the border it wouldn't stop us from trying to track him, and it would also cause the Canadian government to get involved.", Bruce said.

"And besides", the Question said, "I have a feeling that Mercer still has business in this country. He won't be leaving it anytime soon."

"So he probably headed west along the border. The Canadian border is not as tightly guarded as the Mexican border so it shouldn't be too much trouble.", Shayera said.

"Yes, but it would still be risky for him to stay along the border for too long.", Blake said. "And Mercer's definitely smart enough to know that if you're running from something you don't keep going in a straight line. He'll head south, to either Texas, New Mexico, or Arizona."

"That's pretty specific.", Wally said.

"Those states border Mexico.", Blake said

"I came to the same conclusion actually.", Bruce agreed. "They won't leave the country by choice, but they'll want to have the option in case they have no other choice. And they're smart enough to know that there's a time to run and a time to bunker down and hide. That makes Texas the most likely choice since it has the largest area."

"We should see if the Mercers or Ragland have any connections there.", the Question suggested.

"Alright, we have a plan.", Clark said. "I think this meeting's over for now. We should go get our forces mobilized and ready to move out."

There was various words of agreement and everybody dispersed.

* * *

He had been sleeping for a while now. Well...perhaps sleeping wouldn't be the right word. He had been waiting. And he had been waiting for a while now. He had not done much in that time. He was, as some would say, on his best behavior. He didn't bother anyone or cause trouble, so no one bothered him. He wasn't like the others. He never actually knew any of them, but he had heard. His overseers didn't seem to mind talking around him. In their minds he was harmless. So he listened and he learned. He kept tabs on those like himself...well, not exactly like HIM, but similar. They were very discreet, or at least they tried to be. But they were always found. They were found because they ran. He had stayed off the radar by simply hiding in plain sight.

He had lived a very simple and quiet existence for the most part, which was considered strange due to the situation he had been In for his whole life. He had been watched over since the day he was born. He was viewed as a high priority Individual. Many of his overseers wondered why he had never tried to escape or even showed any displeasure at his situation. He may have been quiet but he did speak at times and they placed no restrictions on what he could say or ask. Eventually they decided that he simply had no desire to leave. They weren't complaining since it was infinitely better than what they usually dealt with. They were right, though not In the way they thought.

He had no desire to leave because he was waiting.

It was why he never caused problems.

It was why he didn't aid any of the runners.

It was why he was always collecting information.

He was waiting.

And one day he heard It.

A month ago he could sense something happening. He had sensed similar things happening In the past, but none of them were ever this strong. The voices were louder than he had ever heard them. But one voice stood out clearer and louder than all the others. For the first time In years, he heard his mother's voice.

She told him many things. What she was doing and planned to do. She talked about her other children, who would aid her in her quest. She talked about her enemies and what she would do to them. But mostly, she talked about him. His brother, whom she described as being as extraordinary as he was.

She said that he was misguided but he would join her eventually. But with each passing day he could tell that she was losing hope, and it saddened him. Then one day when she spoke to him he could hear how weak her voice was, and he just knew that it would be the last time he would ever speak to her. She seemed to know it too, so she told him what he needed to do. She entrusted him with the vision she had for the world. And before it was all over, she told him how much she loved him. And suddenly without warning she was gone. And he wept.

But after the tears were done he decided that it was time. He was done waiting.

He stood up and walked to his door. He looked through the opening near the top, which had bars on it, and saw the same long hallway that he had observed his whole life. At the very end of it there was a door, which had two guards posted in front of it.

"Excuse me", he called. The two guards were startled by his voice, but afterwards they focused on him to listen. "Can you come down here please?"

Both of them looked at each other. Although they were initially wary, it quickly disappeared. They had been doing this for several years and they had never had problems before. Once or twice he had made a small request, so that didn't raise any red flags. They figured whatever he wanted wouldn't be a problem. One of the guards walked down the hallway until he was standing in front of his door. "What do you wa-ARRRRGGGGGHHHH", the guard screamed. He looked down to see that the person Inside had punched through the steel door and had his hand buried up to the wrist in his chest. He roughly pulled his hand out, making the guard violently cough up blood, and kicked the door off it's hinges. When the door impacted with the guard the force was so strong that it broke many of his ribs, which punctured his lungs, heart, and one had managed to puncture his stomach, and it caved in the front of his skull. He landed on the ground with the heavy door on top of him, where he simply laid there gurgling up blood. The prisoner walked out and stepped onto the door. With each step he took the broken bones in the guard's body stabbed deeper. The other guard stood in unmoving horror at what he had witnessed, but he snapped out of it when the prisoner stepped off his colleague and began walking towards him. The guard fumbled for his keycard so he could open the door and escape, and for his radio so he could alert the other guards and personnel In the facility. However, his fingers were shaking due to fear and he couldn't locate either of them.

Meanwhile, the prisoner was steadily moving towards him. He started walking faster. The guard was struggling to locate his radio with one hand and find his keycard with the other, while keeping his eyes on the prisoner. The prisoner began speed walking. The guard realized that his partner had the keycard. The prisoner started jogging. The guard was able to grab his radio, but his shaking hands caused him to drop It making the batteries pop out. The prisoner was now running. The guard began pounding on the door, yelling for help. Now the prisoner was flat out sprinting. The guard fumbled at the clasp on his pistol holster. And when he finally managed to get it and he raised the gun to fire the prisoner was 10 feet away from him. He was too late.

He was tackled into the door so hard it was dented, and he thought he could actually hear his ribs crack. The prisoner pulled back and the guard slumped to his knees. The prisoner grabbed the back of the guard's head and slammed It Into the door. He pulled his head back and slammed it again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

He kept on slamming the guard's head into the door until it was nothing but a bloody mess. He tossed the guard to the ground and looked back at the other guard, who gave a final death rattle before he finally stopped breathing.

He turned back to the door and kicked it off it's hinges. He walked through the doorway and saw an elevator in front of him. As he stepped inside he noticed that there was only 2 buttons: one to go up and one to go down. He pressed the up button and the elevator door closed and it began to ascend. He could sense the various people moving about above, but they were of no consequence. There was only one thing on his mind.

One person.

One name.

'Zeus'

* * *

"Alex? Alex! Hey wake up."

Alex suddenly felt someone stomp on his toes.

"Ow!", he yelped. He opened his eyes to see his sister Dana glaring down at him.

"You didn't hear a word I said did you?", she asked.

"Of course I did.", he said. She looked at him skeptically. "Okay, I didn't."

"We were talking about what to do today.", Ragland said. "I suggested we go to a museum."

"That sounds fun.", Dana said. "But I was thinking about going to an amusement park."

"Why can't we just go to a regular park?", Alex asked.

The 3 of them went back and forth about what to do to keep themselves entertained. They had been In Houston for a few days now. Though they were In a motel under a fake name they were confident that they were safe for the time being. Now they were simply trying to pass the time until they were contacted by Ragland's friend.

It was while Ragland was going on about the merits of bowling that his phone rang. The other two Immediately quieted while he answered It. After talking for a few minutes Ragland thanked the person on the other end and hung up.

"Well, it looks like the vacation is over.", he said. "That was my friend."

"I'm assuming it's good news.", Alex said.

"Yes, he's happy to help and he wants to meet.", Ragland said.

"That's good. When's this going to happen?", Dana asked .

"Day after tomorrow. There's a cafe he likes.", Ragland said. "You should come with me Alex. He'll want to meet you personally."

"I'll set up across the street to keep an eye on things.", Dana said.

"Ok. What's his name Ragland?", Alex asked.

"His name is..."

* * *

"Bill Sussman.", Bruce stated to the various heroes and military officers In the room. "He was a chemist who worked with Dr. Ragland from 1979 to 1987."

"From what we can tell they knew each other even before that. From about '76 we think.", Blake said. "And they've kept In contact."

"Sussman has been living in Houston since '97. He's been working for Psyodine since '96.", Bruce said. "But more importantly, he's connected. I had the Question look into him."

"Does he have some secret cabal of scientists or something?", a Captain joked, which earned a few chuckles from some of the officers and heroes around him.

"Well, maybe connected isn't the right word.", Winchester said. "Over the years he's made quite a few friends. Not what you'd call powerful people. But people who could be helpful to somebody on the run."

"He has a friend who runs a train yard. Another who owns a trucking company. Another owns a real estate agency.", Bruce said. "Now, not all of them are people who can help them like that, but I'm sure they would provide any aid they could. And quite a few are also friends of Ragland, and wouldn't mind helping out an old friend."

"We're going to put Sussman under surveilance. He'll more than likely meet with Ragland, If he hasn't already.", Blake said. "We don't want to alert the fugitives or cause a panic, so we're going to avoid having a large military presence In the city unless we have no choice. Instead, the JLU will have a team follow Sussman and, If the opportunity arises, capture the fugitives."

"The team will have 5 members.", Clark said. "Flash and Vigilante will be on the ground, Shayera and Dr. Light will be in the air, and Mr. Terrific will be coordinating everything."

The 3 men and 2 women moved to the front so people could see who they were.

"Sussman may be at the top of our watch list but he Isn't by any means our only person of Interest. We will be having other teams checking out other potential allies of the fugitives throughout the southwest in case they do not meet with Sussman. As with Sussman the JLU will take point while the military will hang back and provide support as needed. Do you all understand your orders?", Winchester asked.

The officers responded with a resounding "Yes, sir!"

"Good. Let's make it happen people."

Author's Note

G'day. You all must be wondering where I've been. Well let's just say I got lost on this crazy journey we call life. Before I go further I would just like to tell my fellow Americans that I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving. I know I did. Speaking of which, is it just me or do people nowadays care more about black Friday than Thanksgiving? That's pretty messed up. If you're foreign and don't know what black Friday is... then be glad that you don't have to deal with a holiday celebrating consumer greed. Now, about this chapter. Yes I know it's small. This is more of a filler chapter, setting up the events for the next chapter (and future chapters too). And why is the next chapter important you may ask. It's because it's what you've all been waiting for: ZEUS/JLU SHOWDOWN. Dun Dun Dun. I I hope I make it suitably awesome. The last thing I want is for you all to come at me with pitchforks. Or, more likely, giving me a virus. Well I better let you all get back to your lives now. See you soon my prettys.

P.S. I am so glad that Glenn is alive. Otherwise I would've had to cut somebody.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League Unlimited, Prototype, or any of their affiliates. Psshh. Not like I wanted to own them anyway. (Starts crying in corner)

"Speaking"

'Thinking'

Radio/Communications

Pvt. First Class Josh Hartlett was feeling very nervous and uneasy. He had been stationed at Vandenberg AFB for about 3 years and he had learned not to question things that he didn't understand. Everyone in the base pretended not to know about the special security wing. On paper it was abandoned and technically they all had clearance to enter it, but it was all a ruse. Everyone knew you weren't supposed to be in there unless you had to be. The entrance was nondescript, lacking any signs or labels to identify it. The only time anyone actively acknowledged it was when they were assigned guard duty, although officially they were always ordered to Inventory the armory that happened to be In the same hallway.

He had been on his shift when he had heard strange voices coming from beyond the door. It sounded like yelling, which was strange since he never heard any noises at all from there usually. He figured someone had fucked up badly and was getting his ass chewed out, so he didn't Investigate for fear of getting reprimanded. He tried to Ignore It but It grew harder as the voices grew louder. He was getting seriously annoyed, when suddenly the voices just stopped. He was relieved yet he couldn't help the uneasy feeling that he felt, despite no real evidence that anything was wrong.

It was around 4 o'clock that he began to get worried. Hartlett had a friend in the classified wing and he always showed up to have a smoke and unwind with Hartlett. He got there at 1600 hours every time, like clockwork, and the fact he hadn't arrived yet raised some red flags. He was beginning to think that it was related to the raised voices from earlier, so he decided to investigate. He considered calling for backup but he didn't know what, if anything, was wrong and he didn't want to raise the alarm needlessly. He would investigate a little bit first.

He approached the door cautiously, making as little noise as possible. As he gripped the door handle he had one last feeling of anxiety before he turned It and slowly opened the door. The first thing he registered was that It was dark. None of the lights were on and he felt his unease grow. He pulled out his service pistol as his eyes adjusted to the lack of light and he was able to make out his surroundings. To his Immediate left there was a long hallway that continued until the darkness obscured his vision. There were several smaller hallways that branched off as well as doors with name plates that he couldn't see clearly due to the lack of light. In front of him was a hallway almost identical to the first one. He debated which way to go and decided to move forward.

As he moved down the hall he was struck by how sterile everything seemed. It was like he was In one of those CDC facilities where they made and stored shit like ebola and anthrax, which he felt was a pretty fucking stupid Idea but hey that's what the government wanted.

He had moved a good ways down the hall and was passing another hallway on his right when he heard a noise coming down the hall. He strained his ears to figure out what the noise was. It was a click-clack sound and it sounded familiar but he was too far away to make it out completely. With a growing sense of fear he turned down the hall.

His whole body was as tense as a bow string as he moved towards the source of the sound. As he got closer to his destination he was able to hear the noise more clearly. It sounded like...typing?

'Not exactly the ominous sound I was expecting.', he thought wryly.

Just as he was beginning to relax he heard another, quieter sound during the brief pauses in the typing. It was a dripping sound.

'Great, creepy dripping. As if this place wasn't freaky enough already.', Hartlett thought.

He gripped the handle of his pistol tighter and cursed himself for not bringing a bigger gun. But he hadn't wanted to cause a panic if it turned out nothing was wrong, so he had ignored the racks of assault rifles, smgs and grenades. He was seriously regretting that decision, but he had gone too far to turn back now so he continued to move forward.

As he reached the end of the hall he finally found the room where the sound was coming from. There was a light coming from under the door, yet besides the clicking and the dripping, there wasn't any other sound coming from within the room. He took a deep breath as he steeled himself to enter the room. When he finally felt he was ready he kicked the door open and moved into the room with his gun at the ready. He immediately stopped in his tracks and stared in horror at what he saw.

He remembered a phrase that people said, either in threats or while describing a violent scene. He once wondered if it was even possible, but he always Immediately dismissed it as absurd. There was no way it could ever happen, right? But there was no preparing him for what he saw in the room. As he stood in the doorway, shocked, a morbid thought about that phrase floated into the front of his mind.

'So you actually CAN paint a room with somebody's blood.', he thought.

He stood In the doorway as blood dripped from the walls and ceiling onto the blood soaked floor. He noticed some larger shapes and chunks around the room but he was too disgusted to look closer. He was so shocked that he nearly forgot the reason he had entered the room, but the sound of the clacking caused him to focus once more.

He tried to ignore his disgust as he took a better look at the room he had entered. It was a large, slightly rectangular, room with another door across from him on the far wall. It looked like a command center of some kind. The door he had entered through as well as the door across from him were on either side of what appeared to be the central control hub at the top of the room. To his right were descending rows of computer terminals. He guessed there was about 30 total. There was a large glass double door leading Into another hallway in the corner at the bottom of the room. The wall to his left was completely taken up with more terminals for radar, satellite imagery, a few he recognized as controls for drones, and many others which he had no idea what they did. Above them, taking up the rest of the wall was a large screen with a flickering image of the world map. Of course, it had been hard to identify the machines due to all the blood.

'How the hell were they able to hide this stuff without everyone In the base knowing? The power required alone should've shown up on the base's power grid.', he thought. 'More importantly, why would they even need this stuff when there's even more in the main base?'

He didn't have any more time to ponder the mystery of the base within a base when his attention was grabbed by something else. In the middle of the central hub was another group of terminals, except there were 3 things about them that immediately had him on edge.

1\. Unlike the other terminals, these ones were activated.

2\. There was a man typing away in front of one of the monitors.

3\. Neither the man nor the terminals had a single drop of blood on them.

Hartlett began inching closer to the man, his shoes making a squishing noise as he moved across the room. The man was wearing a pair of tan camo pants with a light grey shirt and tan combat boots. It was hard to tell since he was sitting down, but Hartlett figured he was about 5'9". His hair was dark brown and cut short, but not In any particular style, almost as If he had done It himself. He wasn't overly large but judging by his arms and shoulders he was definitely toned and muscular, like a swimmer or a gymnast. All in all he looked like your average soldier, yet Hartlett could tell that wasn't the case.

For one thing the clothes he was wearing didn't fit him right. Most people wouldn't have noticed, but due to his heightened sense of awareness Hartlett did notice and judging by the fact that the clothes hung a little loose on the man's frame it seemed that he was wearing someone else's clothes. Though it was strange it wasn't too farfetched to think that the man had run out of clean uniforms and had borrowed another pair. What was much more disconcerting was how calm the man was. He didn't seem particularly perturbed by all of the blood. He hadn't even looked up when Hartlett had kicked the door open.

"Hey you. Stop what you're doing, stand up and show me your hands.", Hartlett said with a confidence that he definitely did not feel. The man didn't even look up. "Didn't you hear me buddy? I said freeze!"

The man's head shot up so fast that Hartlett stumbled backwards, almost falling as he backpedaled away. The man slowly stood up and turned around, causing Hartlett to start backing up further to create some distance. The man simply stared, causing Hartlett to sweat. It was if he was looking straight through him into his mind and soul. It was taking all he had to keep his hands steady as he kept his pistol fixed on the man.

'I don't know what the fuck is going on, but I am not staying here to end up as a bloody stain on the wall!', Hartlett thought.

He had almost made it back to the door but he was stopped dead when a predatory smile appeared on the man's face. It was like the look of a tiger as It prepared to pounce, and for a brief moment the man's eyes flashed red. At that point, any restraint Hartlett had was evaporated and he fired his gun at the man's head. He expected to see an explosion of blood and brain matter, so he was shocked when the man dodged to the side.

'Holy shit! I barely even saw him move!', Hartlett thought in a panic. He didn't waste another moment as he began unloading his weapon. Though it didn't seem to do any good as the man continued to dodge the bullets.

Hartlett's panic went up a notch as his pistol ran out of bullets. He ejected the empty clip as he frantically reached for another one. The man used the few brief seconds to start running at the panicking Private.

Hartlett slammed a new magazine into his gun and loaded a round into the chamber and began firing at the approaching man. The man continued dodging, almost dancing around the bullets and it barely even broke his stride.

The pistol clicked empty again and Hartlett ejected the empty clip once more. He moved faster than he ever had before as he grabbed 1 more clip, loaded it into his gun, and raised it to fire. The man was only a few feet away so Hartlett tried to fire off 1 more round at him, but it was too late as the man knocked his hand out of the way, The gun went off, just missing the man's head, as his other hand grabbed Hartlett's neck in an iron grip and he lifted him 3 ft. off the ground.

Hartlett frantically grabbed at the hand wrapped around his throat as it was cutting off his airway and he was beginning to see spots.

"Shhhhhh, just let go.", the man said softly, almost soothingly. "Stop fighting it. Just close your eyes and pass on."

Hartlett's struggles began to get weaker as his vision got darker. He fruitlessly hit the man's arm a few more times until he no longer had the strength. His arms fell to his sides and he finally went still.

The man dropped Hartlett's limp body and he turned to go back to the monitor he was using.

"That was an unexpected distraction.", he said as he sat down again and tried to find where he left off. "Carnival I, Carnival II, Operation Altruistic, Operation Firebreak..., you'd think a clandestine death squad like Blackwatch wouldn't keep such good records of their crimes."

He had been reading through Blackwatch's files for hours now and he couldn't help but be amused. He couldn't believe that Blackwatch thought that they could contain the outbreaks with such outdated tactics.

Then again, Randall was a dinosaur who was unable and unwilling to change. The man thought he was invincible. He could only imagine the look of surprise on the old war dog's face as his life was snuffed out.

Another thing he found amusing was what was in his own file. Or rather what wasn't in it. He could practically hear the confusion and irritation that the scientists felt as they wrote the various reports. They all amounted to the same thing: the only thing they knew about him was who his mother was. Though he thought 'Pariah' had a nice ring to it. He felt it suited himself, especially since he never had an actual name before.

'At least these so-called researchers weren't completely useless.', Pariah thought.

After searching through many files he finally found what he was looking for.

"Alex Mercer.", he said as he looked at a picture of the one who took his mother's life. "Soon brother, soon we shall meet. And I will open your eyes so you can see the world that our mother envisioned. And we shall make it into reality."

Pariah downloaded all the Information Blackwatch had on Mercer onto a flash drive. As he got up to leave he noticed something quite curious; the man who he thought he had killed was still breathing. He walked over and kneeled next to the man and observed the slight rise and fall of his chest. He was unconscious and his breaths were shallow and ragged, but Pariah was still amazed that he had survived.

"Well isn't this interesting. I'm sure you would agree Mr. Hartlett.", he said, noticing the name on the front of his uniform. "In many ways you are just another in a sea of billions, simple people just shuffling through their pointless lives. Going to school, then going to work, and eventually finding life partners to accompany you through your lonely existence before you inevitably wither and die. Yet, through an extraordinary set of circumstances you found yourself in this room with me. Some may believe it to be fate, and maybe part of it is, but you were only given the opportunity. It was up to you to take it. How many in the same position would have had the bravery to walk down that hallway to an unknown outcome? Most people would've been paralyzed with fear upon entering this room and seeing the state of It, and rightly so. Though you undoubtedly felt fear, you still had the fortitude to push past it and face me with confidence. And after all that, to have the will to survive against all odds...you are a contradiction Mr. Hartlett. So ordinary, and yet so extraordinary. A person like you doesn't deserve to have your story end like this."

Pariah opened Hartlett's mouth.

"They say every journey begins with a single step."

He cut his right palm and held it above Hartlett's face. An extremely dark red substance dripped out of his wound and Into Hartlett's open mouth.

"Well I say, every army begins with a single soldier."

A smile appeared on Pariah's face as Hartlett's eyes shot open and he took the first breath of his new life.

* * *

In Houston, Texas a thin middle-aged man with brown hair left his house to head to the cafe he went to every day for lunch. He was dressed smartly in a pair of grey slacks and a long sleeved white shirt with a green sweater vest over it.

As he was walking along the sidewalk a man going in the opposite direction roughly bumped into him.

"Hey, watch it bud!", the 1st man told the 2nd.

"Who're you calling bud, pal?", the 2nd man said aggressively.

"Who're you calling pal, friend?"

"Who're you calling friend, man?"

"Who're you calling man, guy?"

"Who're you calling guy, dude?"

"Who're you calling dude, bro?"

"Who're you calling bro, homie."

"Who're you calling homie, bruh?"

"Who're you calling bruh, homes?"

"Who're you calling homes, sir?!"

"Who're you calling sir...ma'am?"

By then both men were in each other's faces and were seconds away from fighting. Luckily, a nearby cop spotted them and forced both of them to go their separate ways. The man in the sweater vest continued on his journey, unaware that he was being watched.

"Sussman's on the move again.", Mr. Terrific said as he observed the man with a pair of high tech binoculars.

Never would've expected such aggressiveness from a guy in a sweater vest. You learn something new every day, right C.L.?, The Flash said over the private radio channel the surveillance team was using.

"Stop calling me that.", Mr. Terrific said in annoyance. "What does it even mean?"

Clubber Lang. Because when you shorten your name it becomes Mr. T., The Flash said.

Seriously? This is what you guys are talking about right now? , Kimiyo Hoshi, aka Dr. Light, asked.

This Is nothing. You should see Wally start talking about Rambo. He'll never shut up., Shayera said.

Hey, John Rambo is a patriot and an american icon., The Flash said.

If ya'll are done horsin' around, I think you should know that Sussman reached the cafe., Vigilante said.

Mr. Terrific checked and saw that Vigilante was correct.

Big whoop., The Flash said. , He's been going here every day and he never talks to anybody. If he meets with someone It's not gonna be somewhere so open. 

"You can never be too careful.", Mr. Terrific said. "Just because he hasn't talked to anyone, it doesn't mean that he hasn't been contacted. Be vigilant."

Mr. Terrific didn't know how right he was.

Bill Sussman entered the cafe and sat down at his favorite table as a pretty waitress walked over to him.

"Hey Bill, how are you doing today?", she asked.

"I'm feeling great Anne. Though any day I see you is always guaranteed to be perfect.", Bill said with a smile.

"I bet you say that to every hot girl you meet.", Anne said.

"Doesn't mean it isn't true.", Bill said.

Anne giggled as she shook her head. "I'm guessing you want the raspberry tart."

"You always get me my beautiful swan.", Bill said.

"Shut up.", Anne said with a smile.

Bill chuckled as she went to place his order.

Meanwhile, a caucasian man walked up to the cafe and sat down at one of the outdoor tables. He was wearing a brown jacket with a white polo shirt underneath, blue jeans, and a pair of white tennis shoes. He also had on a Chargers hat and a pair of heavily tinted sunglasses. He took out a tablet and began playing a game.

Anne returned to Bill with a small cup of coffee. As she set it down on his table she also placed a few packets of sugar next to it. As she turned to walk away she gave Bill a quick wink.

Not long after, an african-american man who was a little older than Bill walked Into the cafe and sat at a table by one of the far tables. He was wearing a neat grey suit with a shiny pair of brown dress shoes. After his order was taken he took out a crossword puzzle and began to work on It.

Bill picked up one of the sugar packets and ripped it open. As he poured it into his coffee he quickly looked at the phone number that had been written on it and memorized it. When he was done he balled it up and tossed it in a nearby trash can. He then pulled out the phone that had been secretly slipped to him by the man he had bumped into.

'Gotta hand it to Brad, this whole plan went much smoother than I expected.', Bill thought.

* * *

 **Flashback-That Morning**

"Make sure that no one notices the hand off okay?", Ragland told a man. "And also make sure nobody suspects you two know each other."

"Don't worry, I've got something in mind. Just make sure you have the other half of my payment when it's done.", the man replied. He then took the phone Ragland handed him and walked away.

"Ragland, I'm not sure I should go to this meeting without a disguise. And I don't mean sunglasses and a hat.", Alex said as he walked up to Ragland.

"We've been over this Alex. Bill is a pretty paranoid guy and he won't meet you unless it's in person.", Ragland said. "He's also not aware of Blacklight or it's capabilities, so if you show up as someone else he'll think it's a trap and bolt."

"What if somebody recognizes me. I'm public enemy #1.", Alex said.

"That may be true, but it seems that we covered up our tracks enough that they haven't realized we've gotten this far west, so nobody is really on alert.", Ragland said. "It's easy for people to overlook something they don't expect to see."

"Besides, I'll be looking out for you guys.", Dana said as she walked over to them. "If anything looks off I'll make sure you know."

"Alright then. Let's see if this crazy plan actually works.", Alex said as they dispersed.

 **Flashback End**

* * *

Bill dialed the number into the phone and waited for someone to answer. Outside, the man in the brown jacket's phone began to ring, as well as the phone of the man in the grey suit and they both answered.

"Bill, long time no see.", Ragland said. He discreetly looked at Bill and they gave each other a nod. "And I'd like you to meet Alex Mercer. Brown jacket, 5 o'clock."

Bill used the reflection In his spoon to spot Alex. "I see him.", he said. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr. Mercer."

"Pleasure's all mine.", Alex said.

"Now that we've got the introductions out of the way, would either of you care to tell me what the hell's going on?", Bill asked. "Brad, Anne called me and asked me to look into the disappearance of Charlie, you remember him? Well not only did I not find a trace of him but soon enough Anne's no longer answering her phone. And I couldn't get through to Murphy, or Felix, or Hans, or Fergus or Leitner. Before I know it Manhattan's on the news looking like Hue during Tet. So I'll ask again. What. Is. Going. On?"

Who is he talking to? Can anyone tell what he's saying?, Shayera asked from high in the sky.

"No.", Mr. Terrific said. "He keeps changing phones so we haven't been able to monitor his calls, and he's too alert for us to get close. So unless any of you can lip-read we are stuck as we are."

I guess I'll just work on my tan while I'm waiting., The Flash said.

"Everyone focus, for all we know he could be talking to the Mercers or Ragland.", Mr. Terrific said. That served to sober The Flash up.

Meanwhile, a little ways up the street Dana was handing out flyers for a fake band called 'The Prototypes'. She was sporting pitch black hair with blue tips, a purple shirt with skulls on it with a pair of black jeans, and a pair of black work boots with a grey book bag at her feet. She also had a few piercings on her lip and nose and 1 on her belly button.

She was keeping an eye out for any sign of surveillance but so far nothing looked suspicious. She noticed a flock of birds flying overhead and took a moment to watch them.

'Man I wish I could just fly away. Maybe I'll have Alex take me gliding. It's basically the same as flying.', she thought. However, she noticed a metal glint coming off a bird high up In the sky. "That's odd. Come to think of If, that doesn't look like any bird I'be seen. Ah well, It's probably nothing.'

Bill was stunned at what he had just heard. "Holy hell.", he said. "I told you that Gentek was nothing but trouble Bradley."

"Yeah I know. And I used to think your government paranoia was just insanity.", Ragland said. "But there's no time for I-told-you-sos. Are you willing to help us?"

"To help out a friend and stick it to Big Brother? You bet your ass I will!", Bill said.

"Thank you Bill.", Alex said. "I appreciate you sticking your neck out for me."

"Listen, I don't know you or what you did, but I can tell you want to do good. And I know that things aren't always black and white, and a person shouldn't have their future dictated by past mistakes.", Bill said. "Now I haven't been able to contact most of my friends In New York but I've talked to a few. Jenny texted me and said she had gotten out of the city In the middle of It all but she went dark afterwards, though I think I know where she went.", Bill said as he began to list off potential allies.

I don't think anybody's gonna show Mr. Terrific, otherwise we would have seen them., Dr. Light said.

"Well it's better to be safe than...", Mr Terrific trailed off.

Wait what is it?, Dr. light asked. Did you see something?

"See that guy outside in the brown jacket, sunglasses, and hat? And the older man in the grey suit?", Mr. Terrific said as he observed them with the binoculars. "Those 2 reached the cafe minutes after Sussman did, and the 3 of them have been on their phones about the same time too."

You're right. And they both match the descriptions of Alex Mercer and Ragland., Shayera said.

So what're we waitin' for? Let's get over there and corral them., Vigilante said.

"No, we don't know for sure it's them. They could be decoys. And even if it is them, it doesn't look like Dana Mercer is with them.", Mr. Terrific said. "Dr. Light, move to an adjacent building and see if you can get a better visual."

I'm on it., Dr. Light said.

"Everyone else stay alert.", Mr. Terrific said. As he put his binoculars down the light glinted off of the lenses.

Dana was getting a bad feeling in her stomach. She didn't know what brought it on since everything had gone swimmingly so far. She looked all around again and checked the buildings and shops but there wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Just as she was about to write it off as nerves she noticed an odd shadow on the ground. She looked up and saw something on one of the roof tops that threw her for a loop; it was a woman in a black skintight outfit with a white symbol on the chest shaped like a burst of light, with white gloves and boots, a white headpiece and a white cape.

'Who is that?', she thought in bewilderment. She was thrown by the weird appearance of the woman, but as she began to look closer she was distracted by a light in her eyes. She turned in the direction it was coming from and saw the source was a third story window of an abandoned building. She grabbed her bag and pulled out a portable high powered scope. As she focused on the window she saw what looked like a man, though he wasn't standing close enough to the window for her to get a good look. However, her heart nearly stopped when she saw that the light was reflecting off of a pair of binoculars. 'Oh shit, I've got to warn Alex! ', she thought as she pulled out her phone.

"Ok, but what if...", Alex began before he was cut off by a ringing in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out another phone which only had 1 message on it: We're blown.

"Ragland we've gotta move, now! ", Alex said as he stood up.

"Bradley, we'll meet at my safehouse in 8 hours.", Bill said as he began to leave.

"Alright. Alex, I'm texting you and Dana the address. Be there and be discreet.", Ragland said.

"Damnit, I think we've been made.", Mr. Terrific said. "Everyone move in and remember that Mercer is the priority here."

Alex was just about to walk away when suddenly, Vigilante burst out of a nearby shop.

"Hold it right there.", he told Alex as he aimed his revolvers at him. Alex quickly grabbed a nearby tray and flung it at him, causing Vigilante to drop and roll forward to avoid it. He sprung up just as Alex was turning a corner. He fired but only hit the wall. "He's headin' west. Cut him off Flash."

'What was up with that guy's getup', Alex thought while running. His eyes widened when The Flash suddenly appeared up ahead.

"This is the end of the line for you pal.", Flash said.

Alex didn't slow down as he jumped on a fire hydrant and leapt over him. When he landed he darted down a nearby alley. "Wow this guy stays in shape. I wonder how far he'll get before he gives up.", Flash said.

Flash, stop playing around and stop him. We can't let him get away., Mr. Terrific said.

"Alright geez.", Flash said as he went after Alex. When he entered the alley he saw that there was a tall fence blocking it halfway through, which Alex was about to reach. 'Now I've got him.'

Right before Alex reached the fence he jumped on a small trash can and leapt over the fence.

"I knew that Parkour fad was gonna come back to bite us one day.", The Flash said as he went around to cut him off.

Alex exited the alley but only made it a few feet before Vigilante came barreling around a corner on a motorcycle and skidded to a stop in front of him.

"Thought you could get away from me did ya?", Vigilante said as he quickly dismounted with both of his guns trained on Alex's head. "I got him ya'll. Come meet me so we can take him in."

While Vigilante was momentarily distracted contacting the others Alex knocked one of his guns away before dropping down and kicking one of his legs out from under him. Vigilante fell to 1 knee but lifted his other gun to fire when he was forced to roll to the side when Alex pullled out a pistol and began shooting at him. Vigilante ducked into a nearby doorway and waited for the gunfire to let up. Once it did he peeked out but Alex was gone, but he noticed a trash can that had been knocked over halfway up the street so figured he had went that way.

'Gotta draw the attention to myself so the others can get away.', Alex thought, having knocked the trash can over on purpose. He heard the screech of tires and looked back to see Vigilante roaring after him on his bike.

"I'm right on his tail so get your behinds over here now.", Vigilante told the others. "You ain't getting away from me partner!", Vigilante yelled over the sound of the bike's engines. His eyes widened when Alex started running faster and he began to outdistance him. Vigilante gunned the bike's engine as he attempted to close the distance between them. Just as he was right behind him Alex bent forward and increased his speed so much that his feet were cracking the ground, sending chunks of asphalt flying behind him. "Anyone else seeing this?", Vigilante asked.

I'm seeing it too. What the hell is going on here?, Dr. Light asked.

Alex suddenly changed course and started heading towards an office building. The Flash came around a corner and gave chase when he saw Alex.

"He may be fast, but I'm faster.", The Flash said confidently.

Alex looked behind him and saw The Flash begin to chase him but had to dodge to the side to avoid a white beam of energy, though It barely slowed his momentum.

"Damnit", Dr. Light cursed. She started firing more energy beams but grew frustrated as Alex avoided each one. She was about to fire another when The Flash moved into her line of sight. "Flash move you're blocking my shot."

Don't worry I got this., The Flash said, causing Dr. Light to grit her teeth In frustration.

The Flash got within reach of Alex just as he reached the curb in front of the building, but before he could grab him Alex jumped onto the roof of a nearby van and, without missing a beat, jumped so hard that he caved in the roof of the van and crashed through a window on the fourth floor.

The Flash stared at the crushed van in disbelief. "Ok, this might be a little harder than I thought.", he said before he took off into the building to catch Alex.

'Damn that was close.', Alex thought. 'I gotta be more careful or else I'll have to fight. And I really don't want to have to hurt anyone.'

He ran into a stairwell and began running up, but stopped when he heard a crash below him. He looked over the railing and saw a red blur racing up the stairs. Cursing under his breath he placed a foot on the railing and jumped up to the floor above, then to the one above that, and finally 1 more time. He exited the stairwell and found himself in a hallway. He saw a window at one end and ran towards it. Before he reached it however, Shayera flew in front of it, her mace held aloft and crackling with energy. Instead of stopping, Alex sped up and jumped through the glass and tackled Shayera.

The two of them grappled with each other in midair as they attempted to gain the upper hand. Shayera's wings beat furiously as she tried to throw him off but Alex stayed on. Dr. Light flew towards them and tried to help but found it difficult since the duo was moving around too much for her to get an accurate shot without injuring her ally.

"Shayera, try to move him so I can get a clear shot.", Dr. Light whispered into her communicator. But Alex, having heard her, decided to turn the tables on them. Grabbing Shayera's wings he flipped behind her and planted both of his feet on her back. Using his grip on her wings he manouvered her so she was between him and Dr. Light. He bent his knees before using both feet to kick her towards Dr. Light, sending them both crashing into a building. The force of the kick ppropelled him up and back towards the office building and he crashed into a window of one of the upper floors.

He quickly searched for another stairwell and when he found it began climbing until he finally reached the rooftop. He had barely opened the door to the roof when he had to duck in order to avoid an attack from a mace, wielded by a very irate Shayera. The mace took out a large chunk of the doorway.

"You're going to pay for that!", Shayera said before she began attacking.

She was fast despite the heavy weapon and Alex found himself moving back as he tried to dodge her attacks. Alex crossed his arms above his head as Shayera delivered a powerful downward swing and he blocked it. He delivered a hard kick to her chest that sent her flying.

Alex heard some noise coming from the door leading to the roof and turned just as The Flash came through the door. The Flash didn't notice Alex until it was too late and wasn't able to slow down as Alex clotheslined him and slammed him down.

Alex didn't have time to rest as Dr. Light appeared and began firing light beams at him causing him to get up and run.

Mr. Terrific scrambled to come up with a plan to take down Mercer as he contemplated the unknown abilities he was displaying. 'What the hell has Blackwatch been hiding from us?', he thought as he continued to observe his team through the cameras he placed on them.

Alex was dodging Dr. Light's attacks as he tried to outrun her as well as the recovered Shayera and Flash. Dr. Light smirked as he neared the edge of the building.

"We've got him now. The nearest building is too far for even him to jump to.", she said, though she became worried when he didn't appear to be slowing down. When Alex reached the edge of the roof he jumped and the 3 superheroes were surprised when he appeared to be falling in slow motion. They were shocked when he spread his arms, leaned forward, and began gliding towards the other building.

"What is this guy?", Flash asked. "This wasn't in the file."

"I don't know, but whatever he is we can't let him get away.", Shayera said. She grabbed Flash and flew after Alex, followed closely by Dr. Light.

Alex hit the roof running and began running towards the opposite edge. The leaguers grinned in triumph since the nearest building was several hundred feet shorter than the one he was on.

"It's over now. You nowhere left to run.", Shayera said. "Give up now so we can do this peacefully."

Alex put his hands up.

"Smartest decision you've made yet.", The Flash said. But he was thrown when Alex smiled. "What's up with that grin on your face?"

"You're pretty fast.", Alex said as he backed towards the edge. "But are you faster than gravity?", he said. He then stepped off the building and plumetted to the ground.

The leaguers were shocked at what they just saw. They were even more shocked when they looked over the edge and witnessed Alex land on his feet over 50 stories below, the force of his landing leaving a crater in the street.

Alex looked up with a smirk, but he was unprepared when Vigilante went roaring past him on his motorcycle and lassoed him. Alex was pulled off his feet and started to be dragged behind him.

"YEE-HAW! I got me a big one!", Vigilante yelled. He wrapped the rope around his arm so he wouldn't let go.

Alex was tumbling head over heels as he was dragged by the cowboy.

"That's it!", Alex said. He was able to move so that he was on his back and his feet were facing forward. He dug his heels into the ground and was able to stop himself from moving. The sudden stop jerked Vigilante off his bike and he hit the ground hard while the bike crashed into a wall and exploded.

Alex stood up and burst out of the rope wrapped around him. He grabbed the end of the rope and used it to swing Vigilante into a wall, which cracked under the impact.

Alex turned to run but was hit by the blur that was The Flash. He came to a stop and looked at Alex as he leaned on a parked SUV.

"This has gone on long enough. You're coming with me one way or another.", Flash said seriously.

Alex looked around and noticed the distant forms of Shayera and Dr. Light as they approached. Before Flash could stop him he grabbed the SUV and lifted it over his head like it was made of foam. The Flash prepared himself for the incoming attack but was unprepared when Alex turned towards the still dazed Vigilante. Vigilante noticed Alex as he turned towards and tried to get up, but the pain forced him to fall back again. The world seemed to slow down as he watched Alex chuck the car at him. He closed his eyes as he waited for the impact, but just as the car hit, The Flash grabbed him and pulled him out of the way. The SUV crashed into the wall hard, sending shrapnel flying and leaking gasoline.

Flash and Vigilante looked at where Alex was as Shayera and Dr. Light arrived. They saw that Alex had his gun out and was aiming at the remains of the SUV. They realized what he was about to do and braced themselves as he fired at the pooling gasoline.

The explosion threw them back and obscured there vision with smoke and soot. The Flash picked himself up as he tried to locate Mercer.

"Where...cough...did he go?", he asked the others.

"I last saw him over by that mini mart.", Shayera said. As she said that they heard something fall over in the store.

"I'll go check it out.", Vigilante said.

"You ok?", Shayera asked.

"Yep, my pride is what hurts most right now.", Vigilante replied. He drew his guns as he approached the store. He cautiously opened the door as he kept his guns raised. He was on edge as he listened for anything suspicious. He whipped around when he heard a clatter and saw a can roll out from behind a shelf. "Alright now, you get out here with your hands in the air.", he said as he cocked his revolvers.

"D-don't shoot!", an old man said as he stepped out into the open. "I-i-is that man g-gone?"

Vigilante uncocked his guns and relaxed. "Yes. Did you see where he went?"

"No, sorry", the man apologized.

"Well it's dangerous here so you best get going."

"No problem. And thank you.", the old man said before he ran out of the store.

Vigilante returned to the others. "Not a sign of him. Looks like he got away.", he said.

They all shared a look. "Will someone please tell me what the hell just happened?!", The Flash asked in frustration.

Mr. Terrific looked on with a worried and contemplative look on his face. "I wish I knew Wally, I wish I knew."

A few blocks over, the old man slipped into a deserted alley.

'I think I lost them.', he thought. His body began to writhe and blur before it shifted and became a woman in a bluit suit with a skirt wearing glasses with her hair in a bun. 'What is going on? Wasn't of those guys on the news a few weeks ago?', Alex thought. 'Are they a new Blackwatch unit? This is too much, I've gotta tell Ragland.'

He exited the alley in his disguise and lost himself in the crowd moving away from the commotion.

Author's Note

As Ric Flair says, "WOOO!". I am back baby! And hopefully with a bang, though I'll leave the final opinion to you guys. I almost pulled an April Fool's prank where I would say I was abandoning this story, but considering how long it's been felt it would just be cruel, like kicking a sick puppy. Though now if I do put something like that up, you'll wonder if it's real or fake. Mwahahahahaha!

Anyway, the reason it took so long was because my mind was a total blank. Zip. Nada. I literally spent all of December on the first paragraph. And I felt my last couple chapters were a bit rushed, so I wanted to take my time with this one. Then a few weeks ago my muse hit me and it all just clicked. About 80% of this chapter was done in the last 2 weeks. I was also inspired by all the people who favorited this story since the last chapter, so thanks.

So, the first clash between the forces of the JLU and Team Zeus. Suck it Avengers, especially you Thor. There's a new God of Thunder in town. Now, I chose the heroes in this scene specifically so Alex would get to show off some of his power without being forced to go all Hulk. It also helped that he was underestimated. That's also why I went with a chase instead of a full on battle, like the beginning of Casino Royale. I don't want to go with full carnage from the get go. If you've played Prototype you know that it starts off calm, with almost no marines outside missions and civilians walking at a leisurely pace. Combine that with Alex trying to tone down his collateral damage and you see what I'm trying to do. Don't worry though, there will be plenty of bad guys who Alex will have no problem eviscerating.

Now before I go I would like to introduce a new segment called **King's Corner** , with His Royal Highness King Alfred LaFontaine jr. XIV, the third. You're Majesty?

 **Verily Sir Dude of Remix, thou shalt receive a commendation for this.**

 **Thy king has declared a series of tests for any stout reader who feels themself worthy. Thou hast to answer my riddles 3 in order for this tale to continue. Those who prove themselves of the highest mind shall have thy name immortalized in the annals of this tale. These tests shall be a walk of the cake for one who is familiar with the tale of Bilbo Baggins. The book not the movie.**

 **Alive without breath, as cold as death. Never thirsty, ever drinking. All in mail, never clinking.**

 **Cannot be seen, cannot be felt. Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. Lies behind stars and under hills. And empty holes it fills. Comes before and follows after. Ends life, kills laughter**

 **This thing, alkgl things devours. Birds, beasts, trees, flowers. Gnaws iron, bites steel. And grinds hard stones to meal. Slays king, ruins town. And beats high mountain down.**

 **Be forewarned, thou must do this without help of the world web. Now I must retire to my chambers. Sir Dude?**

Thank you my Liege. Well I hope you enjoy this, and don't forget to leave a review. Seriously, please review.

-Sincerely, THE-DUDE remixed


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League Unlimited, Prototype, or any of their affiliates...What? Were you expecting some kind of funny little disclaimer joke? Why do I always have to amuse you people? How about you entertain me for once?

"Speaking"

'Thinking'

Radio/Communications

 **A/N: Hello again and welcome back. I know I know, you all must hate me right now and I'm sorry about the long wait. It was a mix of me working on my other story, lack of inspiration, a bunch of other crap that took up my time and just straight up laziness. And I know I said I would put it up soonish back in October, but not long after that I started a new job and didn't have any free time. But I`m here now and I'm no longer in training so my schedule has lightened up considerably so hopefully I can update more regularly.**

 **First off just let me ask, how come no one even attempted to answer my riddles? They weren`t very hard. I guess this just goes to show that reader participation is dead.**

 **More importantly though, I finally received some criticism. Which is good since it means you guys are being honest and haven`t just been saying nice things to spare my feelings. I`d like to address these critiques, which range from extremely polite to downright righteous fury, as well as give love to the people who have reviewed since last chapter.**

 **SilverstormXD: Superheroes aren`t always invited or even wanted, but that doesn`t change the fact that they are needed. In fact the very first episode of JLU had a similar situation with a less than friendly government, even though they were WAY out of their depth and totally needed the League's help. Also, might I point out that the JLU sent J`onn and the others as a diplomatic group first and foremost but they just accidentally landed smack in the middle of the Blue Zone. It was the marines who fired first. And the marines had the infection pretty much under crontrol by then, so it wasn`t as if the League got in the way of their jobs or put their lives in jeopardy. It was a simple case of 'Wrong place, wrong time'. No one got hurt. Except Blackwatch, but those assholes had it coming anyway.**

 **XxWildHeartWIIIxX: Listen, I know nowadays we`re surrounded by comics and movies full of cynical and jaded superheroes who have to have a friggin board meeting before dealing with a crisis and question the morality of their actions and their place in the world, but it doesn`t change the fact that saving random strangers is a hero`s bread and butter. Any self-respecting super isn`t gonna ignore people who need help just because they`re in someone else`s turf. Even if that turf is a whole different universe. And thank you. I do plan on keeping Alex good (though not too good, if ya know what I mean) and I hope you continue to enjoy this story.**

 **Dr. Fail: * Query Detected * Alex isn`t just a shape shifter, he can manipulate his mass on a cellular, possibly molecular, level. He can also control his body`s density and weight, which is why he can glide weightlessly through the air but then drop to the ground with the force of a missile. Vigilante was able to drag him since he initially had the density and weight of an average person, though Alex quickly changed that to put a stop to it. * Query Answered Like a Boss ***

 **airmailmrcool: Thank you. I`m still trying to find my groove when it comes to the action scenes so hopefully they`ll be better going forward.**

 **Reichtangle: Yup. If it ain`t broke don`t fix it. Though it hasn`t really worked out for Blackwatch much lately. And don`t worry, Alex ain`t gonna be using those claws to make shish kababs. Unless you consider a nice Groundspike to be proper at a barbecue.**

 **Umbra Venator: Looking forward to writing more chapters as well.**

 **SoldierOfTheSea-1775: Nothing gets the blood pumping like a good chase. But I don`t plan on the next encounter ending so peaceful-like. Both sides are going to see just what the other is capable of now.**

 **Paradox009: I plan to keep `em coming. The question is; can you handle it?**

 **John: Thank you man. Your words are getting me pumped, and I`m gonna use that energy to really make this chapter good.**

 **Destruction20x: I`m gonna have to disagree with you there. In the game Alex is portrayed as a little cold and detached but I saw nothing to suggest that he was as callous as you are describing, nor as prone to collateral damage. Truthfully the amount of death and destruction caused to innocent civilians is pretty much detemined by the player, since the game doesn't show much action in the cutscenes. I know that some unintended deaths are inevitable but Alex doesn't strike me as a guy who would just start cleaving through a crowd. Yes Alex doesn`t hesitate to cut down anybody who tries to stop him, but those are the ONLY people he tries to kill. And Alex hardly ever actively sought out to consume people in order to gain powers. The Claws he got because he absorbed a hunter who was trying to kill him, the Claws were just a bonus. And he only got the Blade and Armor powers because he was trying to stop that cancer that was killing him. He only did what he had to to survive, nothing more nothing less. He has also shown that he does feel regret over what he has done, such as accidentally freeing Greene. He also displayed disgust and contempt for not only Blackwatch and Gentek but himself as well for releasing the virus in the first place. Also if he really didn`t give a shit about the city and only cared about Ragland and Dana then why didn`t he just grab them and get the hell out of the city? Black watch and the Marines had their hands full trying to keep the infection under control (most of Blackwatch had pulled out anyway due to Operation Firebreak) so they definitely could`ve busted out. It certainly would`ve been easier than flushing Taggart out, consuming him, sneaking onto the** _ **Reagan,**_ **and flying a nuke out to the middle of the ocean. Speaking of the nuke, the Supreme Hunter said that when it consumed Alex it would`ve been strong enough to survive the nuke, so wouldn`t the same thing be true if Alex consumed IT, yet he didn`t. Maybe because in addition to saving the city he wanted to die in atonement for the things he did? The end of the game reminds me of what my Great-Uncle, who fought in Korea, once told me. That in battle the adrenaline keeps you focused on the task at hand, and it`s only after it`s over that you really feel what you saw and did. That i think is what was behind Alex`s last words in the game. That`s my take at least. By the way, if you had read my previous chapters you would`ve been able to tell that this story is about Alex`s redemption, so killing Shayera, Flash, or any of the others would kind of go against that. You should've known what to expect. If you disagree then I am sure there are plenty of stories out there you can read instead.**

 **Golden Dragon King: You sir deserve a very special round of thanks, even though you PMed me and didn`t review. Not only did you introduce me to some awesome Prototype crossovers (I especially liked Shards of Impossibility) but it seems we both think alike. I came up with this totally kickass idea to use in this story and a month later you PM me with almost the exact same idea. I`m not kidding. Either you`re an extremely powerful psychic who can read minds over the net, you are part of an advanced alien race sent to plant thoughts into my head, or you are an extremely observant stalker who has studied me so much that you can predict my moves. Or you are just somebody who is as awesome as me. That last one seems much more likely, though it would be flattering to have such a dedicated stalker. Anyway, I salute you kind sir or madam and hope you keep on reading.-P.S. You should read the Prototype crossover `The Infection` by Nightwolv. It`s packed with action, drama, romance, with some hilarious moments sprinkled throughout courtesy of the merc with a mouth.**

 **Now I think it`s time we get on with it. Because I only came here to do 2 things: chew gum and kick ass. And guess what? I`m all out of gum.**

* * *

The guard moved almost noiselessly as he strode down the empty corridor, the only sound being the soft squeak of his boots as they made contact with the polished floor. He was dressed in a plain dark blue uniform with the initials V.W. stitched onto the left breast, and he had a large bag slung over his shoulder. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the corridor were all colored the same shade of grayish-green. Both sides of the corridor were lined with cells with heavy doors made of high strength titanium. The guard moved past them without a glance. He didn`t even break his stride as someone began pounding on one of the cell doors as he passed it, yelling insults and curses.

At the very end of the corridor he came to a halt and opened a thin slot in one of the cell doors. The cell was nearly bare, save for one dim light hanging from the ceiling and a small bed in the shadows of the far corner, upon which a single solitary figure could be seen. He couldn`t help but smirk as he pulled out a sealed plastic parcel from his bag.

"Delivery for the high-roller.", he said sarcastically as he dropped the parcel into the cell. He chuckled as he closed the slot and moved on to the next cell.

As the guard`s footsteps grew fainter and fainter the figure on the bed rose up and moved forward into the light. He was a bald caucasian man with a small dark beard, and he wore a light green jumpsuit. He had the sunken look of a man who had lost considerable weight in a short amount of time. Nevertheless, he stood with his back straight and his head held high, as if challenging the very circumstances he found himself in. He picked up the parcel and moved back over to his bed. As he sat down and began to open it, Lex Luthor couldn`t help but once again dwell on his current situation.

Despite his bravado and defiant attitude, he had to admit that he hadn`t felt so powerless in years. He had been to prison several times before, but with his money and power they basically amounted to vacations in crappy resorts. However, it seemed his luck had run out. There was no possible way for him to spin what he had done or shift the blame. The whole world had witnessed him as he attempted to conquer it. The League had decided that they weren`t going to take any more chances with him, and the world`s governments were more than happy to help. And if that wasn`t bad enough, Cadmus decided to lend it`s support. Seemed it`s members didn`t appreciate being used.

All of his assets had been frozen and his company`s facilities around the world were shut down. His company was slowly dismantled as every deal he had ever made over the years, both overtly and covertly, came under scrutiny. It was helped along by his competitors, who eagerly took him down so long as the various government agencies let them have their pick of the spoils.

He felt white hot fury course through him as he thought of them greedily snatching up all that he had built. They would never have dared to cross him before, as his wealth and power easily outstripped most of his top competitors, with the exception being Wayne Enterprises. Which surprisingly enough didn`t help pick apart his company`s carcass like everyone else. Then again, Wayne had never struck him as the ruthless type. Nevertheless, he still had to watch as all of his years of hard work was quickly undone.

After it was all said and done he was quickly convicted and was sentenced to a high-security prison located in the northern part of the Yukon in Canada. The prison was mostly underground, with several aboveground areas where the prisoners were allowed to congregate. While most of the interior of the prison was made from reinforced concrete, the outer walls of the prison were made of a special blend of ice. It was an improved version of a recipe created during World War II called Pykrete. It was extremely strong and was intended to be used to construct ships but unfortunately the powers that be couldn`t spare enough steel to make a freezer big enough to build a ship and the idea was scrapped. However with a few tweaks and improvements the substance was not only viable, but in the cold expanse of Northern Canada it was actually much better than any other material since it cost less, was easier to produce in large quantities, and wouldn`t become brittle in the cold.

On top of that the prison had some of the most advanced security measures Lex had ever seen. He should know since he helped design most of them. The cells were so closed off it was basically like being in solitary confinement. And the guards kept the prisoners constantly on the move. They never left them alone in their cells long enough for them to think up any plans, but they never let them out long enough for the prisoners to organize and make alliances. Each time the prisoners left their cells the guards would search each one and remove any identifying marks, scratchings, or niches the prisoners might have made. And when they were done they would put each of the prisoners in a completely different cell than the one before. There was never a pattern to know which cell a prisoner would go to next.

'They won`t even give us food trays or utensils.', Lex thought as he removed his afternoon meal from the parcel. The guards didn`t want to give the prisoners any materials they could use to make weapons. Their meals consisted of a basic military style MRE.

Yes, he certainly had hit rock bottom. He had a financial empire that spanned the globe. He had entire governments in his pocket. He had it all. And then it was gone. But he was determined to get it all back, and then some.

He had a small account in New Jersey that no one had discovered. Because who in their right mind thought Lex Luthor would hide his money in Jersey. There was roughly 100 million dollars there. A fortune to most but barely a drop in the bucket compared to what he had. Still it was a start. While most knew him when he was already a billionaire they forgot that he started at the bottom. He still remembered all the contacts he had made back then and he was sure his name still carried weight. And he would work to try to get some of the prisoners on his side.

It would be hard to find a way to ally with the other prisoners and he had no clue how he would get a message to the most of the contacts he had in mind were pretty small time, so he didn`t know how much help they could offer. He wasn`t even 100% sure which of his old business associates would work with him or if they were even around anymore either. And all of those would be moot points if he couldn`t find some way to access his money.

They all seemed like insurmountable problems, but he would figure out a way. He had all the time in the world. He was a patient man.

'Because...', he thought with a smile as he took a bite of what looked like meatloaf, '...there is no way I`m going quietly into the night.'

* * *

Josh felt incredible as he moved through the base. It was like he had been walking through life wearing a mask, and now that it was gone he could see the world around him clearly for the first time.

"Breathtaking, isn`t it Joshua?", a voice said from behind him.

He looked back at the man who had completely changed his life. He remembered everything going dark as the man had choked him. Eventually he could no longer feel anything, but he still fought so he wouldn`t succumb to the darkness. Then suddenly a warmth started in his chest and began to spread throughout his body. He awoke feeling invigorated, yet when he spotted the man who attacked him he immediately reached for his weapon. The man had calmed him and said he only wanted to talk. He couldn`t explain it but Josh just knew that the man had been telling the truth. So he decided to listen as the strange man proceeded to tell him who he was, what he had done to him, and what he hoped to do to the world.

The more Josh listened the more awe-inspired he became. He spoke of building a utopia where the petty differences the world fought about were no more, and everybody acted as one. At first he balked at the fact that the man, who called himself Pariah, could speak of peace after he had so ruthlessly killed the people in the base and calmly stated that he expected to kill again before his dream was realized.

"I know it seems like a contradiction,but many people are either too greedyor too set in their ways to changeand would do everything in their powerto destroy any peace that we just have to look at human history to see that I am right.", Pariah had told him when he had pointed it out. "It may be hard to accept it,but sometimes people have to die so others can live."

As much as it pained Josh to admit it Pariah was right. However many people desired peace there was just as many who spread war and death. And as he came to accept that, he also knew that if any man could bring the world together it was Pariah. So he decided to follow him and help him achieve the goals he had set.

He briefly wondered about how easy it was for him to trust his new leader. He had only met him a few hours ago and yet he was surprised to find that he had a strong compulsion to follow and obey him. But he attributed it to his newfound awareness and the thought was quickly pushed to the back of his mind as though it had never even existed as his thoughts returned to the present.

"Yes, it`s indescribable.", Josh said. "I feel so powerful. Like there`s fire in my veins."

"This is just the beginning. Once you begin to explore just what you are capable of, then you will feel what true power feels like.", Pariah said.

"Thank you for granting this gift to me.", Josh said. "I promise to do all I can to help you bring about your dream."

"Thank you for believing in me.", Pariah said as he gave Josh a kind smile. As Josh turned away however, he didn`t see Pariah`s smile turn vicious and crazed.

They came to a set of double doors and opened them to enter an enormous hangar. It was abuzz with noise and activity as various people scurried about doing their jobs. Pariah surveyed the area and his eyes landed on several men talking about halfway down the hangar.

'Time to spread my influence around.', he thought with a grin. As he was about to move he noticed that Josh was staring transfixed in the other direction. Pariah followed his line of sight and saw a woman supervising several men as they worked on a large cargo plane. He could tell by her uniform that she was a lieutenant. She was very pretty, with dark brown hair tied in a tight bun and surprisingly pale skin, considering they were in California. She was a little shorter than average and she had such a kind-looking face that at first it seemed that she didn`t belong in the military. However, just by looking at the way she held herself he could tell that her looks were misleading. She stood confidently and surely, but without the the over-aggressive stance that many women in high up positions had, to show that they were just as good as any man. It was as if to her the fact that she was a woman was just some mildly interesting fact, like one`s hair or eye color. She was neither ashamed of her gender nor did she flaunt it. She simply acted as if she belonged. Pariah could tell that she was well-respected since the men she was surpervising not only followed her orders quickly and efficiently, but they did it with smiles on their faces.

He could hear Josh`s heart beating fast as he watched her. However what Pariah was sure that what his new apprentice hadn`t noticed was the fact that she kept stealing glances at him as well. Also the fact that she had a slight blush and a small smile suggested that she shared a mutual attraction with Josh.

"Who is she?", Pariah asked.

Josh was startled and a little embarrassed that he had been caught staring so openly at her.

"Oh, well her name is Ripley Keller. She`s a friend of mine.", Josh said.

"That`s an odd name.", Pariah said.

"Yeah, well her parents told her that they were convinced that she would grow up to do extraordinary things that people would have to see to believe. Hence, Ripley.", Josh replied. "We met at the gun range not long after I was transferred here. We had a bit of a competition and some conversation and we just hit it off."

"I see. Though it appears you wish to be more than friends.", Pariah said.

"Yeah, I really do. She just has a way of brightening people`s day, no matter what. Not to mention she`s tough and incredibly smart. I wouldn`t be surprised if she became a General by the time she`s 30.", Josh said with a chuckle. He sighed as he continued. "But I doubt she sees me the same way I see her."

"I wouldn`t be so sure of that.", Pariah said. "I can tell that she cares about you a great deal. And before you say anything...", he said as Josh was about to contradict him, "...answer me this; have I ever lied to you before?'

Josh fell silent. He still was in disbelief that the woman he loved might feel the same way, but that was quickly being replaced by hope. Many times he had prepared himself to tell Ripley how he felt but he was afraid that it would change their relationship. Now though, he didn`t know if it was what Pariah had done to him or if it was simply the knowledge that he had a chance, but he feltthat now was the moment for him to tell her everything or he would regret it for the rest of his life.

'However long that is.', he thought. It was then he had an epiphany. He knew a way for them to be together forever.

"Pariah...", he began.

"No need to ask, just go to her", Pariah replied.

Josh smiled gratefully as he began walking away.

'She seems promising. Her mind seems sharp and she has a strong will, like Joshua.', Pariah thought with a smile. 'Seems like the strong tend to gravitate towards each other. If this keeps up then my army will grow quickly.'

Meanwhile, Ripley found it hard to keep focusing on her task as she noticed Josh walking her way. She tried to maintain a professional demeanor, but it was hard to do as she felt butterflies in her stomach. It was amazing how he could make her go from a focused military officer to a blushing schoolgirl with just his presence.

She remembered the first time they met. She had gone to the shooting range to get some practice in even though she was off-duty and it was the weekend. Most people she knew thought it was weird, especially as she did it regularly, but she liked to do it since the range was usually empty then and she enjoyed the solitude. She had been surprised when someone she never saw before was in her usual spot, but she didn`t figure it was a big deal. She chose the spot next to him and resolved to just ignore him. That is until he managed to outshoot her, something that had never happened to her before. And since she had a bit of a competitive streak she decided to do better, which she did. He then started shooting not just more accurately but faster too. A challenge she was more than ready to accept. They were there for over 3 hours, each trying to one-up the other when they pulled ahead. They never spoke a word the entire time.

Things continued in that vein for several weeks, both using the range at the same time and both in a silent competition with other. Then one day when they were both finishing up for the day Josh asked her about the type of ammo she was using. That led to a conversation about the types of weapons they preferred, which led to a conversation about where they learned to shoot, which led to one about the base they trained at, then to where they were both from and before she knew it they were talking and laughing like old friends. She found it so easy to talk to him, easier than anyone she ever met. It didn`t hurt that they had nearly everything in common. They never tried to pry into each other`s history, preferring to let it come out naturally. In fact it was almost a month before they actually knew each other`s name and rank.

She was shocked when she found out that he was just a private. With his knowledge and skill level, not to mention his bearing and demeanor, she figured him to be a high-ranking officer. She didn`t want to ask him outright since he hadn`t brought the subject up himself yet, but she was curious to know how such a talented soldier had been passed over for promotion. Using her her rank and a few connections she had in the records department she was able to get his service files, and what she found shocked her. Josh used to be a Lt. Colonel. In fact judging by his service record and the many commendations and recommendations from his CO`s he looked set on making Colonel by the time he was 30. He even had a freaking Medal of Honor nomination. Then for some reason it all came to a halt and he was demoted and sent to Vandenberg to do grunt work. The file didn`t go into detail about why, only that he was accused of `Conduct unbecoming of an officer`. Which she knew was total bullshit since she had never met a soldier who was as dedicated and professional as Josh. She had confronted him about it and convinced him to tell her what happened.

Apparently he had been part of a 6 man team operating in Afghanistan. They were acting on intel that a village was being used as the stopping point for terrorists who were transporting a large amount of money to finance their activities. Josh had volunteered at the last minute since he had the most experience in that area and he knew the lay of the land, so to speak.

The rest of the team hadn`t appreciated his presence and acted overly cold and standoffish towards him, which he had found odd. But he attributed it to the close bonds they had due to working together for so long since nobody liked when a stranger was suddenly thrust into their midst.

When they reached the village they had split into 3 two-man cells, with one approaching from the northwest and another from the northeast. They were to draw most of the enemy`s attention so that Josh and the squad leader were free to move in from the south.

At first everything was going as planned, and when Josh reached the designated building and cleared it of enemies they found over $50 million worth of gold bullion. Josh set in to wait for the 0ther 4 men while the squad leader contacted their superiors to request extraction. Or at least he was supposed to. Josh had turned his back for a moment to check if the others were close when he received a heavy blow to the back of his head, courtesy of the squad leader. He dropped to the floor and nearly lost consciousness but managed to force himself to stay awake, a fact which his attacker seemed to miss.

Josh had stayed perfectly still as he heard the man radio the other members of his unit. He instructed 1 of the men to come to their position to help him pack up the gold while the other 3 were to gather up the rest of the villagers and, when he gave the order, to silence them. Josh had been horrified since most of the villagers had no idea about the terrorists or the gold and were innocent. By then Josh had known he had to act, and he took his chance when the man turned away to speak to another man over the radio. He quickly snuck up behind him and began to choke him and crush his windpipe. He tried to figure out who the man was talking to on the radio but the connection was cut before he could get any answers. Josh then ambushed the other man who came to move the gold and made him lead the way to where the villagers were being taken. Once he was there he quickly was able to subdue the other 3 and called the base to let them know what happened.

It only took a week for the 4 men to be court-martialed and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. That should`ve been the end of it but things started to get a little complicated. After the trial was over the higher-ups quickly tried to put the whole incident behind them despite Josh`s protests. He was convinced that there was no way the 5 men involved in the mission could come up with the plan all by themselves, and the third party the squad leader was talking to only raised his suspicions. There was also the matter of the gold, which had all but disappeared after he turned it in. He had learned that it was moved out of the country, but he couldn`t find out where or by whom.

All of these things had left a sour taste in his mouth, yet when he tried to investigate further he was told in no uncetain terms to drop it. He refused to and continued to hunt for the truth. Then one day he came under investigation for a large amount of money that had gone missing from the base commander`s safe. Although the findings ended up being inconclusive the resulting suspicion ended up getting him demoted and transferred all the way back stateside at Vandenberg. Josh just knew he had been set up but unfortunately he never found any proof. He wondered why whoever did it didn`t just have him sent to prison or at the very least kicked out of the military. But Ripley figured something like that happening to someone with a service record like his would cause people to ask questions. Whereas keeping him low ranked would not only keep him from causing trouble but would allow whoever did it to keep tabs on him.

Ripley could hardly believe so many bad things could happen to someone who was just trying to do the right thing. One day he was a highly respected and commended military officer, set to receive the nations highest honor. The next he was a pariah, sent halfway around the world to be some glorified security guard. He still faithfully carried out his duties as a soldier since he still believed in what the military stood for, but he became a little more wary about the powers that be in the world. Which was an opinion that she was starting.

Most people would be impressed that she had achieved such a high rank in such a short amount of time, but the higher she climbed the more she realized how deeply corruption ran in the military. She had always dreamed of serving her country despite the questionable things it did, and she had made it her mission to help make the military something that people could look at with pride once more. Unfortunately many important people in the current system were perfectly fine with the status quo and didn't want that to change. Needless to say she soon found herife incredibly difficult.

'Sometimes I wonder why I even bother.', Ripley thought with a sigh. However, when she looked at Josh, sporting a small content smile, she couldn't help but smile herself. 'Look at me feeling all sorry for myself. If he can find a way to push forward then dammit so can I.'

She pushed her negative thoughts to the back of her mind as she turned to greet the man who had stolen her heart.

"Hey, where've you been? Weren't you supposed to be relieved 3 hours ago?", she asked him.

"What's the matter, can't go on without me in your life?", Josh asked with a smirk.

"Of course. After all I need someone to make me look good.", she replied with a smirk of her own.

"Oh my sweet, how you wound me so! I am more than just a pretty piece of eye candy!", Josh said in a dramatic mock hurt voice.

Ripley giggled. "What's gotten into you?", she asked. "I've never seen you this whimsical."

"Well, you could say I've got a new lease on life.", he replied with a cryptic smile.

"Really? Do you mind telling me what life-altering miracle could've happened in the 12 hours since we last saw each other.

He moved close to her and looked deep into her eyes with an intensity that sent a pleasurable shiver down to her core.

"Ripley, how would like to change the world with me?"

* * *

A newspaper fluttered in the wind as a police car slowly trundled down a street in downtown Houston. The officer in the passenger seat used a large light to check the side streets and alleys as they slowly moved forward. Suddenly a gust of wind blew the newspaper into the officer's face startling him. He pulled it away and saw the front page headline, which explained the reason they were searching the streets in the dead of night.

 **Terrorists Clash With Otherworldly Visitors in Center of Houston!**

"Why the hell are we out here searching for this Mercer guy? I mean if he's managed to evade the military for so long then I doubt he's just going to be walking down the street.", the passenger said.

"I don't know.", the driver said in a bored tone.

"And how come those guys with freaky powers helping to search? I'm sure they'd have more luck than us.", the 1st cop said.

"I said I don't know. So will you just shut up and keep looking. I want to get this done as quick as possible.", the 2nd cop replied.

As the police car turned a corner into the next street a man walked out of a nearby alley.

'I would've thought that there'd be more patrols than this.', Alex thought. 'Then again I shouldn't be complaining since this makes it easier for me.'

He was currently wearing the guise of a 50 year old man with streaks of gray in his hair. He was wearing a black suit with a tan trenchant, making him feel like he was in some 50's crime drama.

He slowly approached the address that he was supposed to meet the others at. It had been over 36 hours since he had escaped from those strange people. He turned his face and body back to normal as he turned into the walkway of a fairly large two story house, since he didn't want to cause Dana or Ragland to panic when they saw a stranger approaching the place.

He reached the door and knocked. He heard some clattering on the other side before the door opened a crack with the chain on.

"What are you supposed to be? An angel of the lord?", Dana asked in a deadpan voice.

"What?", he asked.

"Nothing. I've just been watching a nonstop _Supernatural_ marathon while we waited for you.", she replied. "Anyway, it's good to see you big bro."

She quickly unlocked the door and let him in. He was immediately greeted by the worried face of Ragland.

"Jesus Alex, what the hell happened out there?", Ragland asked.

"If I had to guess then I'd say that the government had me under surveillance in case I met with you.", Ragland's contact Bill said. "I'm sorry Brad."

"Don't be. There's no way you could have known. I'm surprised at how quickly they were able to track you down and set up a watch team on you.", Ragland said.

"I'm starting to think they had some help.", Alex said.

"What do you mean Alex?", Dana asked.

"You know those people who came after me?", he asked the others. When they all nodded he continued, "Well I recognized the guy in the red suit from that news story a few weeks back."

"That's right! It was about those visitors from another universe!", Dana exclaimed.

"Wait a minute. Does this mean they're working with blackwatch?", Bill asked. "How do we know they aren't some special blackwatch unit and this is all just some story they've cooked up?"

"It seems a little too crazy a story to be used as a cover-up.", Dana said.

"Well There's no use speculating since we don't know anything. The only thing we can do is...", Alex began to say before he stopped in mid-sentence. He suddenly became unsteady on his feet and everything blurred around him for a few seconds and there was a ringing in his ears that drowned out any other sound.

When he was able to focus he heard a loud voice in his ear.

"...me Alex?! Are you OK?!", Dana asked worriedly.

"Yeah I'm fine.", Alex replied.

But his words were undermined when he wobbled on his feet.

"Fine my ass.", she said as she grabbed him by the arm and led him to the nearby couch. "Now Sit!", she said in a tone that left no room for argument. Needless to say, Alex complied.

"It's just as I thought. You need rest Alex.", Ragland said as he walked over.

"What are you talking about? I don't get tired Ragland.", Alex said.

"You don't get PHYSICALLY tired. Mentally however...", Ragland said.

"What do you mean?", Bill asked.

"Well this is all just a theory of mine but I'll explain it as best I can.", Ragland said. "First off let me ask you, what is the purpose of sleep?"

"It's a way for your body to recuperate from the trials of the day.", Alex said.

"Yes, both physical and mental. You see the average person is exposed to thousands of stimuli on a daily basis. From the sound of a train in the distance, to the taste of a food, a conversation with a friend, or even the wind on your face. And your mind tries to record and store each one of these things.", Ragland said. "Naturally this is a lot for a person's mind to handle, so sleeping is a way for it to shut off most of your senses and organize everything in your head."

"Is that why people start to lose it when they've been awake too long?", Dana asked.

"That's my belief. Sleep is like pain in a sense. Most people would be delighted to no longer have to feel pain. But pain is there to let you know when your body is in trouble. Without pain you could die from internal injuries without knowing. Since your body doesn't get tired Alex you haven't rested since you woke up in that morgue. ", Ragland said. "I know that you've had a high mental fortitude since even before the outbreak, but after over a month without rest it must be taking it's toll psychologically."

"So you better get up to bed mister if you know what's good for you.", Dana said like a mother scolding a child.

Alex didn't feel like arguing, so he simply got up and, with a slight stumble, headed upstairs to the first bedroom he came across. He'd scarcely laid down on the bed before he was out like a light.

All he could see was darkness. It was peaceful. More peaceful than anything he had felt in quite a while, and while he was there he felt like he didn't have a care in the world

But all too soon he began to see a light ahead of him. He did not want to leave yet he felt this inexplicable pull that caused him to walk towards the light. It quickly enveloped him, shining so bright that even shutting his eyes didn't block it out.

The light began to fade and he found himself in a plain white room. There wasn't anything on the walls and no furniture of any kind. There was almost nothing remarkable at all about the room, save for the fact that there was no door.

He felt as if he was being watched. Like there was a pair of eyes burning into his back.

"It's very good to see you again Alex."

Alex's eyes widened as he whirled around to see the source of that voice.

"Greene!", he exclaimed in shock. He immediately tried to shift to his claws but to his surprise nothing happened.

"That's very rude you know.", Greene said conversationally.

Alex glared at her in response. He couldn't help but feel that something about her was different. She looked exactly the same as when he consumed her, yet she didn't seem like the same emotionless puppet master. It was as if this was just a game to her. Like she could see right through him and what she saw there was amusing.

"How are you even here right now?", Alex demanded.

"Please. I'm not like those other weak minded fools you have absorbed before. I have more control over this gift than any other person who has lived. I was able to keep my sense of self, though just barely.", she replied. "I should really thank you."

"For what?", he growled out.

"Because of you my mind has become clearer than it has in years.", she said.

She stood up and started walking towards him. Alex backed up until he was against the wall and tensed himself to attack. Greene however stopped a few feet in front of him.

"Why so tense? We don't have to be enemies. We both have the same enemy. We both want to make blackwatch pay.", she said.

"Thanks, but I'll pass.", he said mockingly

"Shame.", she replied.

To Alex's shock several chains burst out of the wall and began wrapping around his arms, legs, and chest.

"What the hell are you doing?!", he asked

"Let's just I'm tired of being in the passenger seat. I'd like to be the driver ", she said. She grabbed his face with her hands and black tendrils began to spread across his face.

Alex struggled and strained against the chains binding him as he tried to break free.

"Don't bother struggling. There's no way you can escape.", Greene said.

"NO!", Alex right arm broke the chains and he slammed his fist into Greene's stomach, sending her flying into the opposite wall. He quickly broke the chains on his left arm and chest as Greene got back onto her feet. She ran at him so fast she was practically flying. Just before she reached him he was able to free his legs and he kicked her hard enough to send her through the left wall.

He moved to the hole he made and saw her lying 50 feet below in a narrow hallway. He jumped through and dropped towards Greene with his feet pointed straight down. Greene looked up and saw him and rolled out of the way as Alex crashed where Greene was laying seconds before. The impact caused a small crater and cracked the floor around it.

Greene landed on her feet and glared at Alex. Several more chains burst out of the wall and attempted to wrap around Alex again. One chain had barely managed to grab his arm when he ripped it out of the wall. He quickly used it to grab Greene around the waist and pull her towards him. He reared back his fist and punched her hard in the face, sending her flying down the hallway until she skidded to a stop. Alex quickly ran forward and pinned her to the ground before she could rise again.

"This is my mind. I'm the one in control here.", he said. The floor started to rise up around her as she looked up at him.

"Do you think you've beaten me? You are nothing compared to me.", she hissed. An insane smile lit her face. "Look at you, parading around like you are an actual person. You are nothing but a plague wearing the face of a dead man. A blight on this world that was never meant to exist.", she said with a laugh. As she was slowly covered and began to sink into the floor she said, "You can contain me for now, but someday soon I will break you and take your body as my own. So you just keep pretending to be something you are not. Because that is all you have to look forward to."

And with those last words Greene was covered up and dragged beneath the floor.

* * *

A/N

Well I've finally got that done. And it only took me nearly 9 months. This chapter was actually supposed to be longer, but I figured that since it's been awhile since I last updated that you guys have waited long enough. I'll add the rest to the next chapter.

So, I bet you guys didn't expect Luther to be in this story. Well it's not just him, but all of the DCAU will be part of this story. So you guys have that to look forward to.

As for Greene, I got the idea from Variant Strain by scriviner. By that I mean what would happen if Alex absorbed an infected who's mind wasn't a mess. I mean, why did Alex become so evil in between Prototype 1 & 2 so easily.

Anyway I hope you like this chapter and if not don't hesitate to tell me what you think.


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